GRANNY  Fox 


•NRLF 


GREEN 
MEADOW 

SERIES 


»«  »«-*•*• 


BURGESS 


'  ^ 


'ft!  //.'// 

*i  '•'*** 


ALL  THE  TIME  GRANNY  WAS  CUTTING  UP  HER  ANTICS. 

Page  26. 


OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

BY 
THORNTON   W.   BURGESS 


With  Illustrations  by 
HARRISON  CADY 


GROSSET     &      DUNLAP 

Publishers  New  York 

Printed  by  arrangement  with  Little,  Brown,  and  Company 


Copyright,  1920, 
BT  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


? 


Seftlcstiort 

9--P 

TO  THE  INCREASE   OF  THE   SPIRIT  OP  MERCY  AND 
TO    THAT    GENTLE    CHARITY   WHICH    BEFORE 
PASSING   JUDGMENT   ON   ANOTHER   WILL 
SEEK   TO   GET   THE    OTHER'S   VIEW- 
POINT,   EVEN    THOUGH     THAT 
OTHER    BE    BUT    A    FOX 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I    REDDY  Fox  BRINGS  GRANNY  NEWS      .  1 

II    GRANNY  AND  REDDY  Go  HUNTING        .  8 

III  REDDY  Is  SURE  GRANNY  HAS  LOST  HER 

SENSES IS 

IV  QUACKER  THE   DUCK  GROWS   CURIOUS    .  21 

,     V    REDDY  Fox  Is  AFRAID  To  Go  HOME    .  27 

VI    OLD  GRANNY  Fox  Is  CAUGHT  NAPPING  33 

VII    GRANNY  HAS  A  BAD  DREAM          .        .  41 

VIII    WHAT  FARMER  BROWN'S  BOY  DID         .  49 

IX    REDDY  Fox  HEARS  ABOUT  GRANNY  Fox  55 

X    REDDY  Fox  Is  IMPUDENT       ...  62 

XI    AFTER  THE  STORM           ....  69 

XII    GRANNY    AND    REDDY    Fox    HUNT    IN 

VAIN 76 

XIII  GRANNY  Fox  ADMITS  GROWING  OLD     .  83 

XIV  THREE  VAIN  AND  FOOLISH  WISHES        .  90 
XV    REDDY  FIGHTS  A  BATTLE        ...  97 

XVI    REDDY  Is  MADE  TRULY  HAPPY     .        .  104 

XVII    GRANNY   Fox   PROMISES   REDDY   BOW- 
SER'S DINNER              .                .        .  Ill 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

XVIII    WHY  BOWSER  THE  HOUND  DIDN'T  EAT 

His  DINNER 118 

XIX    OLD   MAN  COYOTE   DOES  A   LITTLE 

THINKING 126 

XX    A  TWICE  STOLEN  DINNER.        .        .    133 

XXI    GRANNY  AND    REDDY  TALK   THINGS 

OVER 140 

XXII    GRANNY  Fox  PLANS  TO  GET  A  FAT 

HEN 147 

XXIII  FARMER   BROWN'S  BOY  FORGETS  TO 

CLOSE  THE  GATE    .        .        .        .154 

XXIV  A  MIDNIGHT  VISIT     ....    161 
XXV    A  DINNER  FOR  Two  .        .        .        .168 

XXVI  FARMER  BROWN'S  BOY  SETS  A  TRAP  175 

XXVII  PRICKLY  PORKY  TAKES  A  SUN  BATH  182 

XXVIII  PRICKLY  PORKY  ENJOYS  HIMSELF      .  188 

XXIX  THE  NEW  HOME  IN  THE  OLD  PASTURE  195 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

All  the  time  Granny  was  cutting  up 

her  antics     .       .  Frontispiece 

"Oh,  my!  oh,  my!  What  news  this 

will  be  to  tell! "    .       .       .       .     PAGE    56 

"Hard    times    these, "    said    Peter 

pleasantly       ....„"       76 

They  stared  up  at  the  roosts  where 
the  biddies  were  huddled  to- 
gether,  fast  asleep  .,  .  .  "  172 


OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

CHAPTER   I 

REDDY  FOX  BRINGS  GRANNY  NEWS 

Pray  who  is  there  who  would  refuse 
To  bearer  be  of  happy  news  ? 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

SNOW  covered  the  Green  Mea- 
dows and  tlie  Green  Forest,  and 
ice  bound  the  Smiling  Pool  and 
the  Laughing  Brook.  Reddy 
and  Granny  Fox  were  hungry  most 
of  the  time.  It  was  not  easy  to 
find  enough  to  eat  these  days,  and 
so  they  spent  nearly  every  minute 
they  were  awake  in  hunting. 


2  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

Sometimes  they  hunted  together, 
but  usually  one  went  one  way,  and 
the  other  went  another  way  so  as 
to  have  a  greater  chance  of  finding 
something.  If  either  found  enough 
for  two,  the  one  finding  it  took  the 
food  back  to  their  home  if  it  could 
be  carried.  If  not,  the  other  was 
told  where  to  find  it. 

For  several  days  they  had  had 
very  little  indeed  to  eat,  and  they 
were  so  hungry  that  they  were 
willing  to  take  almost  any  chance 
to  get  a  good  meal.  For  two 
nights  they  had  visited  Farmer 
Brown's  henhouse,  hoping  that  they 
would  be  able  to  find  a  way  inside. 
But  the  biddies  had  been  securely 
locked  up,  and  try  as  they  would, 
they  couldn't  find  a  way  in. 


REDDY  BRINGS  GRANNY  NEWS    3 

"It's  of  no  use/'  said  Granny, 
as  they  started  back  home  after  the 
second  try,  "  to  hope  to  get  one  of 
those  hens  at  night.  If  we  are 
going  to  get  any  at  all,  we  will 
have  to  do  it  in  broad  daylight. 
It  can  be  done,  for  I  have  done  it 
before,  but  I  don't  like  the  idea, 
We  are  likely  to  be  seen,  and  that 
means  that  Bowser  the  Hound  will 
be  set  to  hunting  us/' 

"  Pooh ! '  exclaimed  Reddy. 
'*  What  of  it?  It's  easy  enough 
to  fool  him." 

"  You  think  so,  do  you?"  snapped 
Granny.  "I  never  yet  saw  a 
young  Fox  who  didn't  think  he 
knew  all  there  is  to  know,  and 
you're  just  like  the  rest.  When 
you've  lived  as  long  as  I  have, 


4  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

you  will  have  learned  not  to  be 
quite  so  sure  of  your  own  opinions. 
I  grant  you  that  when  there  is  no 
snow  on  the  ground,  any  Fox  with 
a  reasonable  amount  of  Fox  sense 
in  his  head  can  fool  Bowser,  but 
with  snow  everywhere  it  is  a  very 
different  matter.  If  Bowser  once 
takes  it  into  his  head  to  follow 
your  trail  these  days,  you  will 
have  to  be  smarter  than  I  think 
you  are  to  fool  him.  The  only 
way  you  will  be  able  to  get  away 
from  him  will  be  by  going  into  a 
hole  in  the  ground,  and  when  you 
do  that  you  will  have  given  away 
a  secret  that  will  mean  we  will 
never  have  any  peace  at  all.  We 
will  never  know  when  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  will  take  it  into  his 


REDDY  BRINGS  GRANNY  NEWS    5 

head  to  smoke  us  out.  I  Ve  seen 
it  done.  No,  Sir,  we  are  not  going 
to  try  for  one  of  those  hens  in  the 
daytime  unless  we  are  starving." 

"I'm  starving  now/'  whined 
Reddy. 

"  No  such  thing ! '  Granny 
snapped.  "  I  Ve  been  without  food 
longer  than  this  many  a  time. 
Have  you  been  over  to  the  Big 
River  lately  ?  " 

"  No/'  replied  Reddy.  "  What 's 
the  use  ?  It 's  frozen  over.  There 
is  n't  anything  there." 

"Perhaps  not/'  replied  Granny, 
"but  I  learned  a  long  time  ago 
that  it  is  a  poor  plan  to  overlook 
any  chance.  There  is  a  place  in 
the  Big  River  which  never  freezes 
because  the  water  runs  too  swiftly 


6  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

to  freeze,  and  I've  found  more 
than  one  meal  washed  ashore  there. 
You  go  over  there  now  while  I  see 
what  I  can  find  in  the  Green 
Forest.  If  neither  of  us  finds  any- 
thing, it  will  be  time  enough  to 
think  about  Farmer  Brown's  hens 
to-morrow/' 

Much  against  his  will  Reddy 
obeyed.  "  It  is  n't  the  least  bit  of 
use/'  he  grumbled,  as  he  trotted 
towards  the  Big  River.  "  There 
won't  be  anything  there.  It  is 
just  a  waste  of  time." 

Late  that  afternoon  he  came 
hurrying  back,  and  Granny  knew 
by  the  way  that  he  cocked  his  ears 
and  carried  his  tail  that  he  had 
news  of  some  kind.  "  Well,  what 
is  it  ?  "  she  demanded. 


REDDY  BRINGS  GRANNY  NEWS    7 

"I  found  a  dead  fish  that  had 
been  washed  ashore,"  replied 
Reddy.  "  It  was  n't  big  enough 
for  two,  so  I  ate  it." 

"  Anything  else  ?"  asked  Granny. 

"No-o,"  replied  Reddy  slowly; 
"  that  is,  nothing  that  will  do  us 
any  good.  Quacker  the  Wild 
Duck  was  swimming  about  out  in 
the  open  water,  but  though  I 
watched  and  watched  he  never 
once  came  ashore." 

"  Ha ! "  exclaimed  Granny. 
"  That  is  good  news.  I  think 
we  '11  go  Duck  hunting." 


CHAPTER  H 

GRANNY  AND  REDDY  FOX  GO  HUNTING 

When  you  're  in  doubt  what  course  is  right. 
The  thing  to  do  is  just  sit  tight. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

JOLLY,  round,  bright  Mr.  Sun 
had  just  got  well  started  on  his 
daily  climb  up  in  the  blue,  blue  sky 
that  morning  when  he  spied  two 
figures  trotting  across  the  snow- 
covered  Green  Meadows,  one  behind 
the  other.  They  were  trotting  along 
quite  as  if  they  had  made  up  their 
minds  just  where  they  were  going. 
They  had.  You  see  they  were 
Granny  and  Reddy  Fox,  and  they 
were  bound  for  the  Big  River  at 
the  place  where  the  water  ran  too 


GRANNY  AND  REDDY  HUNTING  9 

swiftly  to  freeze.  The  day  before 
Reddy  had  discovered  Quacker  the 
Wild  Duck  swimming  about  there, 
and  now  they  were  on  their  way  to 
try  to  catch  him. 

Granny  led  the  way  and  Reddy 
meekly  followed  her.  To  tell  the 
truth,  Reddy  had  n't  the  least  idea 
that  they  would  have  a  chance  to 
catch  Quacker,  because  Quacker 
kept  out  in  the  water  where  he 
was  as  safe  from  them  as  if  they 
were  a  thousand  miles  away.  The 
only  reason  that  Reddy  had  will- 
ingly started  with  Granny  was  the 
hope  that  he  might  find  a  dead  fish 
washed  up  on  the  shore  as  he  had 
the  day  before. 

"  Granny  certainly  is  growing 
foolish  in  her  old  age/'  thought 


10  OLD   GRANNY  FOX 

Reddy,  as  he  trotted  along  behind 
her.  "I  told  her  that  Quacker 
never  once  came  ashore  all  the  time 
I  watched  yesterday.  I  don't  be- 
lieve he  ever  comes  ashore,  and  if 
she  knows  anything  at  all  she 
ought  to  know  that  she  can't  catch 
him  out  there  in  the  water.  Granny 
used  to  be  smart  enough  when  she 
was  young,  I  guess,  but  she  certainly 
is  losing  her  mind  now.  It's  a 
pity,  a  great  pity.  I  can  just 
imagine  how  Quacker  will  laugh  at 
her.  I  have  to  laugh  myself." 

He  did  laugh,  but  you  may  be 
sure  he  took  great  pains  that  Granny 
should  not  see  him  laughing. 
Whenever  she  looked  around  he 
was  as  sober  as  could  be.  In  fact, 
he  appeared  to  be  quite  as  eager 


GRANNY  AND  REDDY  HUNTING  11 

as  if  he  felt  sure  they  would  catch 
Quacker.  Now  old  Granny  Fox 
is  very  wise  in  the  ways  of  the 
Great  World,  and  if  Reddy  could 
have  known  what  was  going  on  in 
her  mind  as  she  led  the  way  to  the 
Big  River,  he  might  not  have  felt 
quite  so  sure  of  his  own  smartness. 
Granny  was  doing  some  quiet 
laughing  herself. 

"  He  thinks  I  ?m  old  and  foolish 
and  don't  know  what  I'm  about, 
the  young  scamp ! '  thought  she. 
"  He  thinks  he  has  learned  all  there 
is  to  learn.  It  isn't  the  least  use 
in  the  world  to  try  to  tell  him  any- 
thing. When  young  folks  feel  the 
way  he  does,  it  is  a  waste  of  time 
to  talk  to  them.  He  has  got  to 
be  shown.  There  is  nothing  like 


12  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

experience  to  take  the  conceit  out 
of  these  youngsters." 

Now  conceit  is  the  feeling  that 
you  know  more  than  any  one  else. 
Perhaps  you  do.  Then  again,  per- 
haps you  don't.  So  sometimes  it 
is  best  not  to  be  too  sure  of  your 
own  opinion.  Reddy  was  sure. 
He  trotted  along  behind  old  Granny 
Fox  and  planned  smart  things  to 
say  to  her  when  she  found  that 
there  wasn't  a  chance  to  catch 
Quacker  the  Duck.  I  am  afraid, 
very  much  afraid,  that  Reddy  was 
planning  to  be  saucy.  People  who 
think  themselves  smart  are  quite 
apt  to  be  saucy. 

Presently  they  came  to  the  bank 
of  the  Big  River.  Old  Granny 
Fox  told  Reddy  to  sit  still  while 


GRANNY  AND  REDDY  HUNTING  13 

she  crept  up  behind  some  bushes 
where  she  could  peek  out  over  the 
Big  River.  He  grinned  as  he 
watched  her.  He  was  still  grin- 
ning when  she  tiptoed  back.  He 
expected  to  see  her  face  long 
with  disappointment.  Instead  she 
looked  very  much  pleased. 

"  Quacker  is  there/'  said  she, 
"and  I  think  he  will  make  us  a 
very  good  dinner.  Creep  up  be- 
hind those  bushes  and  see  for  your- 
self, then  come  back  here  and  tell 
me  what  you  think  we  'd  better  do 
to  get  him." 

So  Reddy  stole  up  behind  the 
bushes,  and  this  time  it  was  Granny 
who  grinned  as  she  watched.  As 
he  crept  along,  Reddy  wondered  if 
it  could  be  that  for  once  Quacker 


14  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

had  come  ashore.  Granny  seemed 
so  sure  they  could  catch  him  that 
this  must  be  the  case.  But  when 
he  peeped  through  the  bushes,  there 
was  Quacker  'way  out  in  the  middle 
of  the  open  water  just  where  he 
had  been  the  day  before. 


CHAPTER   in 

REDDY  IS  SURE  GRANNY  HAS  LOST 

HER  SENSES 

Perhaps  't  is  just  as  well  that  we 
Can't  see  ourselves  as  others  see. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

"JuST  as  I  thought/'  muttered 
Reddy  Fox  as  he  peeped  through 
the  bushes  on  the  bank  of  the  Big 
River  and  saw  Quacker  swimming 
about  in  the  water  where  it  ran 
too  swiftly  to  freeze.  "  We  've 
got  just  as  much  chance  of  catch- 
ing him  as  I  have  of  jumping  over 
the  moon.  That's  what  111  tell 
Granny/' 

He  crept  back  carefully  so  as 
not  to  be  seen  by  Quacker,  and 


16  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

when  he  had  reached  the  place 
where  Granny  was  waiting  for 
him,  his  face  wore  a  very  impudent 
look. 

"Well,"  said  Granny  Fox, 
"  what  shall  we  do  to  catch  him  ?  " 

"  Learn  to  swim  like  a  fish  and 
fly  like  a  bird,"  replied  Reddy  in 
such  a  saucy  tone  that  Granny  had 
hard  work  to  keep  from  boxing 
his  ears. 

"  You  mean  that  you  think  he 
can't  be  caught  ?  "  said  she  quietly. 

"I  don't  think  anything  about 
it ;  I  know  he  can't ! '  snapped 
Reddy.  "  Not  by  us,  anyway," 
he  added. 

"  I  suppose  you  would  n't  even 
try?"  retorted  Granny. 

"  I  'm  old  enough  to  know  when 


HAS  GRANNY  LOST  HER  SENSES  ?   17 

I'm  wasting  my  time,"  replied 
Reddy  with  a  toss  of  his  head. 

"  In  other  words  you  think  I  'm 
a  silly  old  Fox  who  has  lost  her 
senses,"  said  Granny  sharply. 

"  No-o.  I  did  n't  say  that/'  pro- 
tested Reddy,  looking  very  un- 
comfortable. 

"But  you  think  it,"  declared 
Granny.  "Now  look  here,  Mr. 
Smarty,  you  do  just  as  I  tell  you, 
You  creep  back  there  where  you 
can  watch  Quacker  and  all  that 
happens,  and  mind  that  you  keep 
out  of  his  sight.  Now  go." 

Reddy  went.  There  was  noth- 
ing else  to  do.  He  didn't  dare 
disobey.  Granny  watched  until 
Reddy  had  reached  his  hiding- 
place.  Then  what  do  you  thick 


18  OLD   GRANNY  FOX 

she  did  ?  Why,  she  walked  right 
out  on  the  little  beach  just  below 
Reddy  and  in  plain  sight  of 
Quacker !  Yes,  Sir,  that  is  what 
she  did ! 

Then  began  such  a  queer  per- 
formance that  it  is  no  wonder  that 
Reddy  was  sure  Granny  had  lost 
her  senses.  She  rolled  over  and 
over.  She  chased  her  tail  round 
and  round  until  it  made  Reddy 
dizzy  to  watch  her.  She  jumped 
up  in  the  air.  She  raced  back 
and  forth.  She  played  with  a  bit 
of  stick.  And  all  the  time  she 
didn't  pay  the  least  attention  to 
Quacker  the  Duck. 

Reddy  stared  and  stared.  What- 
ever had  come  over  Granny  ?  She 
was  crazy.  Yes,  Sir,  that  must  be 


HAS  GRANNY  LOST  HER  SENSES  ?   19 

the  matter.  It  must  be  that  she 
had  gone  without  food  so  long 
that  she  had  gone  crazy.  Poor 
Granny !  She  was  in  her  second 
childhood.  Reddy  could  remember 
how  he  had  done  such  things  when 
he  was  very  young,  just  by  way  of 
showing  how  fine  he  felt.  But 
for  a  grown-up  Fox  to  do  such 
things  was  undignified,  to  say  the 
least.  You  know  Reddy  thinks  a 
great  deal  of  dignity.  It  was 
worse  than  undignified ;  it  was 
positively  disgraceful.  He  did 
hope  that  none  of  his  neighbors 
would  happen  along  and  see 
Granny  cutting  up  so.  He  never 
would  hear  the  end  of  it  if  they  did. 
Over  and  over  rolled  Granny, 
and  around  and  around  she  chased 


20  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

her  tail.  The  snow  flew  up  in  a 
cloud.  And  all  the  time  she  made 
no  sound.  Reddy  was  just  trying 
to  decide  whether  to  go  off  and 
leave  her  until  she  had  regained 
her  common  sen£e,  or  to  go  out 
and  try  to  stop  her,  when  he 
happened  to  look  out  in  the 
open  water  where  Quacker  was. 
Quacker  was  sitting  up  as  straight 
as  he  could.  In  fact,  he  had  his 
wings  raised  to  help  him  sit  up  on 
his  tail,  the  better  to  see  what  old 
Granny  Fox  was  doing. 

"As  I  live,"  muttered  Reddy, 
"I  believe  that  fellow  is  nearer 
than  he  was  ! '' 

Reddy  crouched  lower  than  ever, 
and  instead  of  watching  Granny  he 
watched  Quacker  the  Duck. 


CHAPTER  IV 

QUACKER  THE  DUCK  GROWS  CURIOUS 

The  most  curious  thing  in  the  world  is  curiosity. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

OLD  GRAKNT  Fox  never  said  a 
truer  thing  than  that.  It  is  curi- 
ous, very  curious,  how  sometimes 
curiosity  will  get  the  best  of  even 
the  wisest  and  most  sensible  of 
people.  Even  Old  Granny  Fox 
herself  has  been  known  to  be  led 
into  trouble  by  it.  We  expect  it 
of  Peter  Rabbit,  but  Peter  is  n't  a 
bit  more  curious  than  some  others 
of  whom  we  do  not  expect  it. 

Now  Quacker  the  Wild  Duck  is 
the  last  one  in  the  world  you  would 


22  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

expect  to  be  led  into  trouble  by 
curiosity.  Quacker  had  spent  the 
summer  in  the  Far  North  with 
Honker  the  Goose.  In  fact,  he  had 
been  born  there.  He  had  started 
for  the  far  away  Southland  at  the 
same  time  Honker  had,  but  when 
he  reached  the  Big  River  he  had 
found  plenty  to  eat  and  had  decided 
to  stay  until  he  had  to  move  on. 
The  Big  River  had  frozen  over 
everywhere  except  in  this  one  place 
where  the  water  was  too  swift  to 
freeze,  and  there  Quacker  had  re- 
mained. You  see,  he  was  a  good 
diver  and  on  the  bottom  of  the  river 
he  found  plenty  to  eat.  No  one 
could  get  at  him  out  there,  unless 
it  were  Roughleg  the  Hawk,  and  if 
Roughleg  did  happen  along,  all  he 


QUACKER  GROWS  CURIOUS      23 

had  to  do  was  to  dive  and  come  up 
far  away  to  laugh  and  make  fun  of 
Roughleg.  The  water  could  n't  get 
through  his  oily  feathers,  and  so  he 
didn't  mind  how  cold  it  was. 

Now  in  his  home  in  the  Far 
North  there  were  so  many  dangers 
that  Quacker  had  early  learned  to 
be  always  on  the  watch  and  to  take 
the  best  of  care  of  himself.  On  his 
way  down  to  the  Big  River  he  had 
been  hunted  by  men  with  terrible 
guns,  and  he  had  learned  all  about 
them.  In  fact,  he  felt  quite  able 
to  keep  out  of  harm's  way.  He 
rather  prided  himself  that  there  was 
no  one  smart  enough  to  catch  him. 
I  suspect  he  thought  he  knew  all 
there  was  to  know.  In  this  respect 
he  was  a  good  deal  like  Reddy  Fox 


24  OLD   GRANNY  FOX 

himself.  That  was  because  he  was 
young.  It  is  the  way  with  young 
Ducks  and  Foxes  and  with  some 
other  youngsters  I  know. 

When  Quacker  first  saw  Granny 
Fox  on  the  little  beach,  he  flirted 
his  absurd  little  tail  and  smiled  as 
he  thought  how  she  must  wish  she 
could  catch  him.  But  so  far  as  he 
could  see,  Granny  did  n't  once  look 
at  him. 

"  She  does  n't  know  I  'm  out  here 
at  all,"  thought  Quacker.  Then 
suddenly  he  sat  up  very  straight 
and  looked  with  all  his  might. 
What  under  the  sun  was  the  matter 
with  that  Fox  ?  She  was  acting  as 
if  she  had  suddenly  lost  her  senses. 

Over  and  over  she  rolled. 
Around  and  around  she  spun.  She 


QUACKER  GROWS  CURIOUS      25 

turned  somersaults.  She  lay  on 
her  back  and  kicked  her  heels  in 
the  air.  Never  in  his  life  had  he 
known  any  one  to  act  like  that. 
There  must  be  something  the  matter 
with  her. 

Quacker  began  to  get  excited. 
He  couldn't  keep  his  eyes  off  Old 
Granny  Fox.  He  began  to  swim 
nearer.  He  wanted  to  see  better. 
He  quite  forgot  she  was  a  Fox. 
She  moved  so  fast  that  she  was  just 
a  queer  red  spot  on  the  beach. 
Whatever  she  was  doing  was  very 
curious  and  very  exciting.  He 
swam  nearer  and  nearer.  The  ex- 
citement was  catching;.  He  began 

o  o 

to  swim  in  circles  himself.  All  the 
time  he  drew  nearer  and  nearer  to 
the  shore.  He  didn't  have  the 


26  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

least  bit  of  fear.  He  was  just  curi- 
ous. He  wanted  to  see  better. 

All  the  time  Granny  was  cutting 
up  her  antics,  she  was  watching 
Quacker,  though  he  did  n't  suspect 
it.  As  he  swam  nearer  and  nearer 
to  the  shore,  Granny  rolled  and 
tumbled  farther  and  farther  back. 
At  last  Quacker  was  close  to  the 
shore.  If  he  kept  on,  he  would  be 
right  on  the  land  in  a  few  minutes. 
And  all  the  time  he  stared  and 
stared.  No  thought  of  danger  en- 
tered his  head.  You  see,  there  was 
no  room  because  it  was  so  filled 
with  curiosity. 

"In  a  minute  more  I'll  have 
him/'  thought  Granny,  and  whirled 
faster  than  ever.  And  just  then 
something  happened. 


CHAPTER   V 

REDDY  FOX  IS  AFRAID  TO   GO    HOME 

Yes,  Sir,  a  chicken  track  is  good  to  see,  but 
it  often  puts  nothing  but  water  in  my  mouth, 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

REDDY  Fox  thought  of  thai 
saying  many  times  as  he  hunted 
through  the  Green  Forest  that 
night,  afraid  to  go  home.  You 
see,  he  had  almost  dined  on 
Quacker  the  Duck  over  at  the  Big 
River  that  day  and  then  hadn't, 
and  it  was  all  his  own  fault. 
That  was  why  he  was  afraid  to  go 
home.  From  his  hiding-place  on 
the  bank  he  had  watched  Quacker 
swim  in  and  in  until  he  was  almost 
on  the  shore  where  old  Granny 


28  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

Fox  was  whirling  and  rolling  and 
tumbling  about  as  if  she  had  en- 
tirely lost  her  senses.  Indeed, 
Reddy  had  been  quite  sure  that 
she  had  when  she  began.  It 
wasn't  until  he  saw  that  curiosity 
was  drawing  Quacker  right  in  so 
that  in  a  minute  or  two  Granny 
would  be  able  to  catch  him,  that 
he  understood  that  Granny  was 
anything  but  crazy,  and  really  was 
teaching  him  a  new  trick  as  well 
as  trying  to  catch  a  dinner. 

When  he  realized  this,  he  should 
have  been  ashamed  of  himself  for 
doubting  the  smartness  of  Granny 
and  for  thinking  that  he  knew  all 
there  was  to  know.  But  he  was 
too  much  excited  for  any  such 
thoughts.  Nearer  and  nearer  to 


REDDY  IS  AFRAID  TO  GO  HOME    29 

the  shore  came  Quacker,  his  eyes 
fixed  on  the  red,  whirling  form 
of  Granny.  Reddy 's  own  eyes 
gleamed  with  excitement.  Would 
Quacker  keep  on  right  up  to  the 
shore  ?  Nearer  and  nearer  and 
nearer  he  came.  Reddy  squirmed 
uneasily.  He  couldn't  see  as  well 
as  he  wanted  to.  The  bushes 
behind  which  he  was  lying  were 
in  his  way.  He  wanted  to  see 
Granny  make  that  jump  which 
would  mean  a  dinner  for  both. 

Forgetting  what  Granny  had 
charged  him,  Reddy  eagerly  raised 
his  head  to  look  over  the  edge  of 
the  bank.  Now  it  just  happened 
that  at  that  very  minute  Quacker 
chanced  to  look  that  way.  His 
quick  eyes  caught  the  movement 


30  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

of  Reddy's  head  and  in  an  instant 
all  his  curiosity  vanished.  That 
sharp  face  peering  at  him  over  the 
edge  of  the  bank  could  mean  but 
one  thing  —  danger  !  It  was  all 
a  trick  !  He  saw  through  it  now. 
Like  a  flash  he  turned.  There 
was  the  whistle  of  stiff  wings  beat- 
ing the  air  and  the  patter  of  feet 
striking  the  water  as  he  got  under 
way.  Then  he  flew  out  to  the 
safety  of  the  open  water.  Granny 
sprang,  but  she  was  just  too  late 
and  succeeded  in  doing  no  more 
than  wet  her  feet. 

Of  course,  Granny  didn't  know 
what  had  frightened  Quacker,  not 
at  first,  anyway.  But  she  had  her 
suspicions.  She  turned  and  looked 
up  at  the  place  where  Reddy  had 


REDDY  IS  AFRAID  TO  GO  HOME    31 

been  hiding.  She  could  n't  see 
him.  Then  she  bounded  up  the 
bank.  There  was  no  Reddy  there, 
but  far  away  across  the  snow- 
covered  Green  Meadows  was  a  red 
spot  growing  smaller  and  smaller. 
Reddy  was  running  away.  Then 
she  knew.  At  first  Granny  was 
very  angry.  You  know  it  is  a 
dreadful  thing  to  be  hungry  and 
have  a  good  dinner  disappear  just 
as  it  is  almost  within  reach. 

"  1 11  teach  that  young  scamp  a 
lesson  he  won't  soon  forget  when  I 
get  home/'  she  muttered,  as  she 
watched  him.  Then  she  went 
back  to  the  edge  of  the  Big  River 
and  there  she  found  a  dead  fish 
which  had  been  washed  ashore. 
It  was  a  very  good  fish,  and 


32  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

when  she  had  eaten  it  Granny  felt 
better. 

"  Anyway,"  thought  she,  "  I 
have  taught  him  a  new  trick  and 
one  he  is  n't  likely  to  forget.  He 
knows  now  that  Granny  still  knows 
a  few  tricks  that  he  doesn't,  and 
next  time  he  won't  feel  so  sure  he 
knows  it  all.  I  guess  it  was 
worth  while  even  if  I  did  n't  catch 
Quacker.  My,  but  he  would  have 
tasted  good ! "  Granny  smacked 
her  lips  and  started  for  home. 

But  Reddy,  with  a  guilty  con- 
science, was  afraid  to  go  home. 
And  so,  miserable  and  hungry,  he 
hunted  through  the  Green  Forest 
all  the  long  night  and  wished  and 
wished  that  he  had  heeded  what 
old  Granny  Fox  had  told  him. 


CHAPTER   VI 

OLD  GRANNY  FOX  IS  CAUGHT  NAPPING 

The  wisest  folks  will  make  mistakes,  but 
if  they  are  truly  wise  they  will  profit  from 

them. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

THEEE  is  a  saying  among  the 
little  people  of  the  Green  Forest 
and  the  Green  Meadows  which  runs 
something  like  this : 

"You  must  your  eyes  wide  open  keep 
To  catch  Old  Granny  Fox  asleep." 

Of  course  this  means  that  Old 
Granny  Fox  is  so  smart,  so  clever, 
so  keenly  on  the  watch  at  all  times, 
that  he  must  be  very  smart  indeed 
who  fools  her  or  gets  ahead  of  her. 
Reddy  Fox  is  smart,  very  smart. 


34  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

But  Reddy  is  n't  nearly  as  smart  as 
Old  Granny  Fox.  You  see,  lie 
hasn't  lived  nearly  as  long,  so  of 
course  there  is  much  knowledge  of 
many  things  stored  away  in  Granny's 
head  of  which  Reddy  knows  little. 

But  once  in  a  while  even  the 
smartest  people  are  caught  napping. 
Yes,  Sir,  that  does  happen.  They 
will  be  careless  sometimes.  It  was 
just  so  with  Old  Granny  Fox. 
With  all  her  smartness  and  clever- 
ness and  wisdom  she  grew  careless, 
and  all  the  smartness  and  cleverness 
and  wisdom  in  the  world  is  useless 
if  the  possessor  becomes  careless. 

You  see,  Old  Granny  Fox  had 
become  so  used  to  thinking  that  she 
was  smarter  than  any  one  else,  un- 
less it  was  Old  Man  Coyote,  that 


GRANNY  FOX  CAUGHT  NAPPING    35 

she  actually  believed  that  no  one 
was  smart  enough  ever  to  sur- 
prise her.  Yes,  Sir,  she  actually 
believed  that.  Now,  you  know 
when  a  person  reaches  the  point  of 
thinking  that  no  one  else  in  all  the 
Great  World  is  quite  so  smart,  that 
person  is  like  Peter  Rabbit  when 
he  made  ready  one  winter  day  to 
jump  out  on  the  smooth  ice  of  the 
Smiling  Pool,  —  getting  ready  for 
a  fall.  It  was  this  way  with  Old 
Granny  Fox. 

Because  she  had  lived  near 
Farmer  Brown's  so  long  and  had 
been  hunted  so  often  by  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  and  by  Bowser  the 
Hound,  she  had  got  the  idea  in  her 
head  that  no  matter  what  she  did 
they  would  not  be  able  to  catch 


36  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

her.  So  at  last  she  grew  careless. 
Yes,  Sir,  she  grew  careless.  And 
that  is  something  no  Fox  or  any- 
body else  can  afford  to  do. 

Now  on  the  edge  of  the  Green 
Forest  was  a  warm,  sunny  knoll, 
which,  as  you  know,  is  a  sort  of 
little  hill.  It  overlooked  the  Green 
Meadows  and  was  quite  the  most 
pleasant  and  comfortable  place  for 
a  sun-nap  that  ever  was.  At  least, 
that  is  what  Old  Granny  Fox 
thought.  She  took  sun-naps  there 
very  often.  It  was  her  favorite 
resting  place.  When  Bowser  the 
Hound  had  found  her  trail  and 
had  chased  her  until  she  was  tired 
of  running  and  had  had  quite  all 
the  exercise  she  needed  or  wanted, 
she  would  play  one  of  her  clevei 


GRANNY  FOX  CAUGHT  NAPPING    37 

tricks  by  which  to  make  Bowser 
lose  her  trail.  Then  she  would 
hurry  straight  to  that  knoll  to  rest 
and  grin  at  her  own  smartness. 

It  happened  that  she  did  this  one 
day  when  there  was  fresh  snow  on 
the  ground.  Of  course,  every  time 
she  put  a  foot  down  she  left  a  print 
in  the  snow.  And  where  she  curled 
up  in  the  sun  she  left  the  print  of 
her  body.  They  were  very  plain 
to  see,  were  these  prints,  and 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  saw  them. 

He  had  been  tramping  through 
the  Green  Forest  late  in  the  after- 
noon and  just  by  chance  happened 
across  Granny's  footprints.  Just 
for  fun  he  followed  them  and  so 
came  to  the  sunny  knoll.  Granny 
had  left  some  time  before,  but  of 


38  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

course  she  couldn't  take  the  print 
of  her  body  with  her.  That  re- 
mained in  the  snow,  and  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  saw  it  and  knew  in- 
stantly what  it  meant.  He  grinned, 
and  could  Granny  Fox  have  seen 
that  grin,  she  would  have  been 
uncomfortable.  You  see,  he  knew 
that  he  had  found  the  place  where 
Granny  was  in  the  habit  of  taking 
a  sun-nap. 

"  So,"  said  he,  "  this  is  the  place 
where  you  rest,  Old  Mrs.  Fox,  after 
running  Bowser  almost  off  his  feet. 
I  think  we  will  give  you  a  surprise 
one  of  these  days.  Yes,  indeed, 
I  think  we  will  give  you  a  sur- 
prise. You  have  fooled  us  many 
times,  and  now  it  is  our  turn." 

The  next   day   Farmer  Brown's 


GRANNY  FOX  CAUGHT  NAPPING    39 

boy  shouldered  his  terrible  gun  and 
sent  Bowser  the  Hound  to  hunt  for 
the  trail  of  Old  Granny  Fox.  It 
wasn't  long  before  Bowser's  great 
voice  told  all  the  Great  World  that 
he  had  found  Granny's  tracks. 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  grinned  just 
as  he  had  the  day  before.  Then 
with  his  terrible  gun  he  went  over 
to  the  Green  Forest  and  hid  under 
some  pine  boughs  right  on  the  edge 
of  that  sunny  knoll. 

He  waited  patiently  a  long,  long 
time.  He  heard  Bowser's  great 
voice  growing  more  and  more  ex- 
cited as  he  followed  Old  Granny 
Fox.  By  and  by  Bowser  stopped 
baying  and  began  to  yelp  im- 
patiently. Farmer  Brown's  boy 
knew  exactly  what  that  meant.  It 


40  OLD   GRANNY  FOX 

meant  that  Granny  had  played  one 
of  her  smart  tricks  and  Bowser  had 
lost  her  trail. 

A  few  minutes  later  out  of  the 
Green  Forest  came  Old  Granny  Fox, 
and  she  was  grinning,  for  once 
more  she  had  fooled  Bowser  the 
Hound  and  now  could  take  a  nap 
in  peace.  Still  grinning,  she  turned 
around  two  or  three  times  to  make 
herself  comfortable  and  then,  with 
a  sigh  of  contentment,  curled  up  for 
a  sun-nap,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
was  asleep.  And  just  a  little  way 
off  behind  the  pine  boughs  sat 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  holding  his 
terrible  gun  and  grinning.  At  last 
he  had  caught  Old  Granny  Fox 
napping. 


CHAPTER  VII 

GRANNY  FOX  HAS  A  BAD  DREAM 

Nothing  ever  simply  happens  ; 

Bear  that  point  in  mind. 
If  you  look  long  and  hard  enough 

A  cause  you'll  always  find. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

OLD  GRANNY  Fox  was  dreaming, 
Yes,  Sii%  she  was  dreaming.  There 
she  lay,  curled  up  on  the  sunny 
little  knoll  on  the  edge  of  the 
Green  Forest,  fast  asleep  and 
dreaming.  It  was  a  very  pleasant 
and  very  comfortable  place  indeed. 
You  see,  jolly,  round,  bright  Mr. 
Sun  poured  his  warmest  rays  right 
down  there  from  the  blue,  blue  sky. 
When  Old  Granny  Fox  was  tired,. 


*2  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

she  often  slipped  over  there  for  a 
short  nap  and  sun-bath  even  in 
winter.  She  was  quite  sure  that 
no  one  knew  anything  about  it, 
It  was  one  of  her  secrets. 

This  morning  Old  Granny  Fox 
was  very  tired,  unusually  so.  In 
the  first  place  she  had  been  out 
hunting  all  night.  Then,  before 
she  could  reach  home,  Bowser  the 
Hound  had  found  her  tracks  and 
started  to  follow  them.  Of  course, 
it  would  n't  have  done  to  go  home 
then.  It  wouldn't  have  done  at 
all.  Bowser  would  have  followed 
her  straight  there  and  so  found 
out  where  she  lived.  So  she  had 
led  Bowser  far  away  across  the 
Green  Meadows  and  through  the 
Green  Forest  and  finally  played 


GRANNY  HAS  A  BAD  DREAM    43 

one  of  her  smart  tricks  which  had 
so  mixed  her  tracks  that  Bowser 
could  no  longer  follow  them. 
While  he  had  sniffed  and  snuffed 
and  snuffed  and  sniffed  with  that 
wonderful  nose  of  his,  trying  to 
find  out  where  she  had  gone,  Old 
Granny  Fox  had  trotted  straight 
to  the  sunny  knoll  and  there 
curled  up  to  rest.  Right  away 
she  fell  asleep. 

Now  Old  Granny  Fox,  like  most 
of  the  other  little  people  of  the 
Green  Forest  and  the  Green 
Meadows,  sleeps  with  her  ears 
wide  open.  Her  eyes  may  be 
closed,  but  not  her  ears.  Those 
are  always  on  guard,  even  when 
she  is  asleep,  and  at  the  least 
sound  open  fly  her  eyes,  and  she  is 


44  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

ready  to  run.  If  it  were  not  for 
the  way  her  sharp  ears  keep  guard, 
she  wouldn't  dare  take  naps  in 
the  open  right  in  broad  daylight. 
If  you  ever  want  to  catch  a  Fox 
asleep,  you  mustn't  make  the 
teeniest,  weeniest  noise.  Just  re- 
member that. 

Now  Old  Granny  Fox  had  no 
sooner  closed  her  eyes  than  she 
began  to  dream.  At  first  it  was  a 
very  pleasant  dream,  the  pleasant- 
est  dream  a  Fox  can  have.  It 
was  of  a  chicken  dinner,  all  the 
chicken  she  could  eat.  Granny 
certainly  enjoyed  that  dream.  It 
made  her  smack  her  lips  quite  as 
if  it  were  a  real  and  not  a  dream 
dinner  she  was  enjoying. 

But  presently  the  dream  changed 


GRANNY  HAS  A  BAD  DREAM    45 

and  became  a  bad  dream.  Yes, 
indeed,  it  became  a  bad  dream. 
It  was  as  bad  as  at  first  it  had 
been  good.  It  seemed  to  Granny 
that  Bowser  the  Hound  had  be- 
come very  smart,  smarter  than  she 
had  ever  known  him  to  be  before. 
Do  what  she  would,  she  couldn't 
fool  him.  Not  one  of  all  the 
tricks  she  knew,  and  she  knew  a 
great  many,  fooled  him  at  all. 
They  didn't  puzzle  him  long 
enough  for  her  to  get  her  breath. 
Bowser  kept  getting  nearer  and 
nearer  and  nearer,  all  in  the  dream, 
you  know,  until  it  seemed  as  if  his 
great  voice  sounded  right  at  her 
very  heels.  She  was  so  tired  that 
it  seemed  to  her  that  she  could  n't 
run  another  step.  It  was  a  very, 


46  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

rery  real  dream.  You  know 
dreams  sometimes  do  seem  very 
real  indeed.  This  was  the  way  it 
was  with  the  bad  dream  of  Old 
Granny  Fox.  It  seemed  to  her 
that  she  could  feel  the  breath  of 
Bowser  the  Hound  and  that  his 
great  jaws  were  just  going  to  close 
on  her  and  shake  her  to  death. 

"  Oh  !  Oh  !  "  cried  Granny  and 
waked  herself  up.  Her  eyes  flew 
open.  Then  she  gave  a  great 
sigh  of  relief  as  she  realized  that 
her  terrible  fright  was  only  a  bad 
dream  and  that  she  was  curled  up 
right  on  the  dear,  familiar,  old, 
sunny  knoll  and  not  running  for 
her  life  at  all. 

Old  Granny  Fox  smiled  to  think 
what  a  fright  she  had  had  and  then, 


GRANNY  HAS  A  BAD  DREAM    4V 

—  well,  she  didn't  know  whethei 
she  was  really  awake  or  still 
dreaming  !  No,  Sir,  she  did  n't. 
For  a  full  minute  she  could  n't  be 
sure  whether  what  she  saw  was 
real  or  part  of  that  dreadful  dream. 
You  see,  she  was  staring  into 
the  face  of  Farmer  Brown's  boy 
and  the  muzzle  of  his  dreadful 
gun! 

For  just  a  few  seconds  she 
didn't  move.  She  couldn't.  She 
was  too  frightened  to  move.  Then 
she  knew  what  she  saw  was  real 
and  not  a  dream  at  all.  There 
was  n't  the  least  bit  of  doubt  about 
it.  That  was  Farmer  Brown's 
boy,  and  that  was  his  dreadful 
gun !  All  in  a  flash  she  knew 
that  Farmer  Brown's  boy  must 


48  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

have    been    hiding    behind    those 
pine  boughs. 

Poor  Old  Granny  Fox !  For 
once  in  her  life  she  had  been 
caught  napping.  She  hadn't  the 
least  hope  in  the  world.  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  had  only  to  fire  that 
dreadful  gun,  and  that  would  be 
the  end  of  her.  She  kn^w  it. 


CHAPTER   VIH 

WHAT  FARMER  BROWN'S  BOY  DID 

In  time  of  danger  heed  this  rule : 
Think  hard  and  fast,  but  pray  keep  cool. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

POOE  Old  Granny  Fox !  She 
had  thought  that  she  had  been  in 
tight  places  before,  but  never, 
never  had  she  been  in  such  a 
tight  place  as  this.  There  stood 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  looking  along 
the  barrel  of  his  dreadful  gun 
straight  at  her,  and  only  such  a 
short  distance,  such  a  very  short 
distance  away  !  It  was  n't  the  least 
bit  of  use  to  run.  Granny  knew 
that.  That  dreadful  gun  would 


50  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

go    "  bang ! ''    and    that  would    be 
the  end  of  her. 

For  a  few  seconds  she  stared  at 
Farmer  Brown's  boy,  too  frightened 
to  move  or  even  think.  Then  she 
began  to  wonder  why  that  dreadful 
gun  didn't  go  off.  What  was 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  waiting  for? 
She  got  to  her  feet.  She  was  sure 
that  the  first  step  would  be  her 
last,  yet  she  could  n't  stay  there. 

How  could  Farmer  Brown's  boy 
do  such  a  dreadful  thing  ?  Some- 
how, his  freckled  face  didn't  look 
cruel.  He  was  even  beginning  to 
grin.  That  must  be  because  he 
had  caught  her  napping  and  knew 
that  this  time  she  could  n't  possibly 
get  away  from  him  as  she  had 
so  many  times  before.  "Oh!" 


WHAT  FARMER  BROWN'S  BOY  DID  51 

sobbed  Old  Granny  Fox  under  her 
breath. 

And  right  at  that  very  instant 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  did  some- 
thing. What  do  you  think  it  was? 
No,  he  didn't  shoot  her.  He 
did  n't  fire  his  dreadful  gun.  What 
do  you  think  he  did  do  ?  Why,  he 
threw  a  snowball  at  Old  Granny 
Fox  and  shouted  "  Boo  ! "  That  is 
what  he  did  and  all  he  did,  except 
to  laugh  as  Granny  gave  a  great 
leap  and  then  made  those  black  legs 
of  hers  fly  as  never  before. 

Every  instant  Granny  expected 
to  hear  that  dreadful  gun,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  her  heart  would  burst 
with  fright  as  she  ran,  thinking 
each  jump  would  be  the  last  one. 
But  the  dreadful  gun  did  n't  bang, 


52  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

and  after  a  little,  when  she  felt 
she  was  safe,  she  turned  to  look 
back  over  her  shoulder.  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  was  standing  right 
where  she  had  last  seen  him,  and 
he  was  laughing  harder  than  ever. 
Yes,  Sir,  he  was  laughing,  and 
though  Old  Granny  Fox  didn't 
think  so  at  the  time,  his  laugh  was 
good  to  hear,  for  it  was  good- 
natured  and  merry  and  all  that  an 
honest  laugh  should  be. 

"Go  it,  Granny!  Go  it!" 
shouted  Farmer  Brown's  boy. 
"And  the  next  time  you  are 
tempted  to  steal  my  chickens,  just 
remember  that  I  caught  you  nap- 
ping and  let  you  off  when  I  might 
have  shot  you.  Just  remember 
that  and  leave  my  chickens  alone." 


WHAT  FARMER  BROWN'S  BOY  DID  53 

Now  it  happened  that  Tommy 
Tit  the  Chickadee  had  seen  all 
that  had  happened,  and  he  fairly 
bubbled  over  with  joy.  "Dee, 
dee,  dee,  Chickadee !  It  is  just 
as  I  have  always  said  —  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  isn't  bad.  He'd  be 
friends  with  every  one  if  every  one 
would  let  him/'  he  cried. 

"  Maybe,  maybe/'  grumbled 
Sammy  Jay,  who  also  had  seen  all 
that  had  happened.  "But  he's 
altogether  too  smart  for  me  to 
trust.  Oh,  my!  oh,  my!  What 
news  this  will  be  to  tell !  Old 
Granny  Fox  will  never  hear  the 
end  of  it.  If  ever  again  she  boasts 
of  how  smart  she  is,  all  we  will 
have  to  do  will  be  to  remind  her 
of  the  time  Farmer  Brown's  boy 


54  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

caught  her  napping.  Ho !  ho ! 
ho !  I  must  hurry  along  and  find 
my  cousin,  Blacky  the  Crow. 
This  will  tickle  him  half  to  death." 
As  for  Old  Granny  Fox,  she 
feared  Farmer  Brown's  boy  more 
than  ever,  not  because  of  what  he 
had  done  to  her  but  because  of 
what  he  had  not  done.  You  see, 
nothing  could  make  her  believe 
that  he  wanted  to  be  her  friend. 
She  thought  he  had  let  her  get 
away  just  to  show  her  that  he  was 
smarter  than  she.  Instead  of 
thankfulness,  hate  and  fear  filled 
Granny's  heart.  You  know  — 

People  who  themselves  do  ill 
For  others  seldom  have  good  will. 


CHAPTER  IX 

REDDY  FOX  HEARS  ABOUT  GRANNY  FOX 

Though  you  may  think  another  wrong 
And  be  quite  positive  you  're  right, 

Don't  let  your  temper  get  away ; 
And  try  at  least  to  be  polite. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

SAMMY  JAY  hurried  through  the 
Green  Forest,  chuckling  as  he  flew. 
Sammy  was  brimming  over  with 
the  news  he  had  to  tell, — how 
Old  Granny  Fox  had  been  caught 
napping  by  Farmer  Brown's  boy. 
Sammy  wouldn't  have  believed  it 
if  any  one  had  told  him.  No,  Sir, 
he  wouldn't.  But  he  had  seen  it 
with  his  own  eyes,  and  it  tickled 
him  almost  to  pieces  to  think  that 


56  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

Old  Granny  Fox,  whom  everybody 
thought  so  sly  and  clever  and 
smart,  had  been  caught  actually 
asleep  by  the  very  one  of  whom 
she  was  most  afraid,  but  at  whom 
she  always  had  turned  up  her  nose. 
Presently  Sammy  spied  Reddy 
Fox  trotting  along  the  Lone  Little 
Path.  Reddy  was  forever  boast- 
ing of  how  smart  Granny  Fox  was. 
He  had  boasted  of  it  so  much  that 
everybody  was  sick  of  hearing  him. 
When  he  saw  Reddy  trotting  along 
the  Lone  Little  Path,  Sammy 
chuckled  harder  than  ever.  He 
hid  in  a  thick  hemlock-tree  and 
as  Reddy  passed  he  shouted : 

"Had  I  such  a  stupid  old  Granny 

As  some  folks  who  think  they  are  smart, 
I  never  would  boast  of  my  Granny, 
But  live  by  myself  quite  apart ! " 


,  MY!    OH,  MY!    WHAT  NEWS  THIS  WILL  BE  TO 
TELL!"     Page  S3. 


BEDDY  HEARS  ABOUT  GRANNY    57 

Reddy  looked  up  angrily.  He 
couldn't  see  Sammy  Jay,  but  he 
knew  Sammy's  voice.  There  is  no 
mistaking  that.  Everybody  knows 
the  voice  of  Sammy  Jay.  Of 
course  it  was  foolish,  very  foolish 
of  Reddy  to  be  angry,  and  still 
more  foolish  to  show  that  he  was 
angry.  Had  he  stopped  a  minute 
to  think,  he  would  have  known 
that  Sammy  was  saying  such  a 
mean,  provoking  thing  just  to 
make  him  angry,  and  that  the 
angrier  he  became  the  better 
pleased  Sammy  Jay  would  be. 
But  like  a  great  many  people, 
Reddy  allowed  his  temper  to  get 
the  better  of  his  common  sense. 

"Who  says  Granny  Fox  is 
stupid?"  he  snarled- 


58  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

"I  do/'  replied  Sammy  Jay 
promptly.  "  I  say  she  is  stupid." 

"  She  is  smarter  than  anybody 
else  in  all  the  Green  Forest  and 
on  all  the  Green  Meadows.  She 
is  smarter  than  anybody  else  in 
all  the  Great  World/'  boasted 
Reddy,  and  he  really  believed 

it.  ;  I,^v'»-k.  -J>-:IL;  Vn^i; 

"She  isn't  smart  enough  to 
fool  Farmer  Brown's  boy/'  taunted 
Sammy. 

"  What 's  that  ?  Who  says  so  ? 
Has  anything  happened  to  Granny 
Fox?"  Reddy  forgot  his  anger 
in  a  sudden  great  fear.  Could 
Granny  have  been  shot  by  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  ? 

"  Nothing  much,  only  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  caught  her  napping 


REDDY  HEARS  ABOUT  GRANNY    59 

in  broad  daylight,"  replied  Sammy, 
and  chuckled  so  that  Reddy  heard 
him. 

"  I  don't  believe  it ! "  snapped 
Reddy.  "I  don't  believe  a  word 
of  it !  Nobody  ever  yet  caught 
Old  Granny  Fox  napping,  and  no* 
body  ever  will." 

"I  don't  care  whether  you  be- 
lieve it  or  not ;  it 's  so,  for  I  saw 
him/'  retorted  Sammy  Jay. 

"  You  —  you  —  you  —  "  began 
Reddy  Fox. 

"  Go  ask  Tommy  Tit  the  Chick- 
adee if  it  is  n't  true.  He  saw  him 
too,"  interrupted  Sammy  Jay. 

"  Dee,  dee,  dee,  Chickadee ! 
It's  so,  and  Farmer  Brown's  boy 
only  threw  a  snowball  at  her  and 
let  her  run  away  without  shooting 


60  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

at    her/'    declared    a    new    voice. 
There  sat  Tommy  Tit  himself. 

Reddy  didn't  know  what  to 
think  or  say.  He  just  couldn't 
believe  it,  yet  he  had  never  known 
Tommy  Tit  to  tell  an  untruth. 
Sammy  Jay  alone  he  wouldn't 
have  believed.  Then  Tommy  Tit 
and  Sammy  Jay  told  Reddy  all 
about  what  they  had  seen,  how 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  had  surprised 
Old  Granny  Fox  and  then  allowed 
her  to  go  unharmed.  Reddy  had 
to  believe  it.  If  Tommy  Tit  said 
it  was  so,  it  must  be  so.  Reddy 
Fox  started  off  to  hunt  up  Old 
Granny  Fox  and  ask  her  about  it. 
But  a  sudden  thought  popped  into 
his  red  head,  and  he  changed  his 
mind. 


BEDDY  HEARS  ABOUT  GRANNY  61 

"I  won't  say  a  thing  about  it 
until  some  time  when  Granny 
scolds  me  for  being  careless,"  mut- 
tered Reddy,  with  a  sly  grin. 
"  Then  I  '11  see  what  she  has  to 
say.  I  guess  she  won't  scold  me 
so  much  after  this/' 

Reddy  grinned  more  than  ever, 
which  wasn't  a  bit  nice  of  him. 
Instead  of  being  sorry  that  Old 
Granny  Fox  had  had  such  a  fright, 
he  was  planning  how  he  would  get 
even  with  her  when  she  should 
scold  him  for  his  own  carelessness. 


CHAPTER   X 

REDDY  FOX  IS  IMPUDENT 

A  saucy  tongue  is  dangerous  to  possess ; 
Be  sure  some  day  't  will  get  you  in  a  mess. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

REDDY  Fox  is  headstrong  and, 
like  most  headstrong  people,  is 
given  to  thinking  that  his  way  is 
the  best  way  just  because  it  is  his 
way0  He  is  smart,  is  Reddy  Fox. 
Yes,  indeed,  Reddy  Fox  is  very, 
very  smart.  He  has  to  be  in  order 
to  live.  But  a  great  deal  of  what 
he  knows  he  learned  from  Old 
Granny  Fox.  The  very  best  tricks 
he  knows  she  taught  him.  She 

o 

began  teaching  him  when  he  was 


REDDY  FOX  IS  IMPUDENT      63 

so  little  that  he  tumbled  over  his 
own  feet.  It  was  she  who  taught 
him  how  to  hunt,  that  it  is  better 
never  to  steal  chickens  near  home 
but  to  go  a  long  way  off  for 
them,  and  how  to  fool  Bowser  the 
Hound. 

It  was  Granny  who  taught  Redd^y 
how  to  use  his  little  black  nose  to 
follow  the  tracks  of  careless  young 
Rabbits,  and  how  to  catch  Meadow 
Mice  under  the  snow.  In  fact, 
there  is  little  Reddy  knows  which 
he  didn't  learn  from  wise,  shrewd 
Old  Granny  Fox. 

But  as  he  grew  bigger  and  bigger, 
until  he  was  quite  as  big  as  Granny 
herself,  he  forgot  what  he  owed  to 
her.  He  grew  to  have  a  very  good 
opinion  of  himself  and  to  feel  that 


64  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

he  knew  just  about  all  there  was  to 
know.  So  sometimes  when  he  had 
done  foolish  or  careless  things  and 
Granny  had  scolded  him,  telling 
him  he  was  big  enough  and  old 
enough  to  know  better,  he  would 
sulk  and  go  off  muttering  to  him- 
self. But  he  never  quite  dared  to 
be  openly  disrespectful  to  Granny, 
and  this,  of  course,  was  quite  as  it 
should  have  been. 

"If  only  I  could  catch  Granny 
doing  something  foolish  or  careless," 
he  would  say  to  himself.  But  he 
never  could,  and  he  had  begun  to 
think  that  he  never  would.  But  now 
at  last  Granny,  clever  Old  Granny 
Fox,  had  been  careless !  She  had 
allowed  Farmer  Brown's  boy  to  catch 
her  napping !  Reddy  did  wish  he 


REDDY  FOX  IS  IMPUDENT      65 

had  been  there  to  see  it  himself. 
But  anyway,  he  had  been  told  about 
it,  and  he  made  up  his  mind  that 
the  next  time  Granny  said  anything 
sharp  to  him  about  his  carelessness 
he  would  have  something  to  say 
back.  Yes,  Sir,  Reddy  Fox  was 
deliberately  planning  to  answer 
back,  which,  as  you  know,  is  always 
disrespectful  to  one's  elders. 

At  last  the  chance  came.  Reddy 
did  a  thing  no  truly  wise  Fox  ever 
will  do.  He  went  two  nights  in 
succession  to  the  same  henhouse, 
and  the  second  time  he  barely  es- 
caped being  shot.  Old  Granny  Fox 
found  out  about  it.  How  she  found 
out  Reddy  doesn't  know  to  this 
day,  but  find  out  she  did,  and  she 
gave  him  such  a  scolding  as  even 


66  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

her  sharp  tongue  had  seldom  given 
him. 

"You  are  the  stupidest  lox  I 
ever  heard  of/'  scolded  Granny. 

"I'm  no  more  stupid  than  you 
are ! "  retorted  Reddy  in  the  most 
impudent  way. 

W  "  What 's       that  ?  "      demanded 
Granny.      "  What 's  that  you  said ? " 

"  I  said  I  'm  no  more  stupid  than 
you  are,  and  what  is  more,  I  hope 
I  'm  not  so  stupid.  I  know  better 
than  to  take  a  nap  in  broad  day- 
light right  under  the  very  nose 
of  Farmer  Brown's  boy/'  Reddy 
grinned  in  the  most  impudent  way 
as  he  said  this. 

Granny's  eyes  snapped.  Then 
things  happened.  Reddy  was  cuffed 
this  way  and  cuffed  that  way  and 


REDDY  FOX  IS  IMPUDENT      67 

cuffed  the  other  way  until  it  seemed 
to  him  that  the  air  was  full  of  black 
paws,  every  one  of  which  landed  on 
his  head  or  face  with  a  sting  that 
made  him  whimper  and  put  his  tail 
between  his  legs,  and  finally  howl. 
"  There  ! ?;  cried  Granny,  when 
at  last  she  had  to  stop  because  she 
was  quite  out  of  breath.  "  Per- 
haps that  will  teach  you  to  be 
respectful  to  your  elders.  I  was 
careless  and  stupid,  and  I  am  per- 
fectly ready  to  admit  it,  because  it 
has  taught  me  a  lesson.  Wisdom 
often  is  gained  through  mistakes, 
but  never  when  one  is  not  willing 
to  admit  the  mistakes.  No  Fox 
lives  long  who  makes  the  same  mis- 
take twice.  And  those  who  are 
impudent  to  their  elders  come  to 


68  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

no  good  end.  I  've  got  a  fat  goose 
hidden  away  for  dinner,  but  you 
will  get  none  of  it." 

"  I  —  I  wish  I  'd  never  heard  of 
Granny's  mistake,"  whined  Reddy 
to  himself  as  he  crept  dinnerless  to 
bed. 

"You  ought  to  wish  that  you 
hadn't  been  impudent,"  whispered 
a  small  voice  down  inside  him. 


CHAPTER   XI 

AFTER  THE  STORM 

The  joys  and  the  sunshine  that  make  us  glad ; 
The  worries  and  troubles  that  makes  us  sad 
Must  come  to  an  end ;  so  why  complain 
Of  too  little  sun  or  too  much  rain  ? 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

THE  thing  to  do  is  to  make  the 
most  of  the  sunshine  while  it  lasts, 
and  when  it  rains  to  look  forward 
to  the  coming  of  the  sun  again, 
knowing  that  come  it  surely  will. 
A  dreadful  storm  was  keeping  the 
little  people  of  the  Green  Forest, 
the  Green  Meadows,  and  the  Old 
Orchard  prisoners  in  their  own 
homes  or  in  such  places  of  shelter 
as  they  had  been  able  to  find. 


70  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

But  it  couldn't  last  forever,  and 
they  knew  it.  Knowing  this  was 
all  that  kept  some  of  them  alive. 

You  see,  they  were  starving. 
Yes,  Sir,  they  were  starving. 
You  and  I  would  be  very  hungry, 
very  hungry  indeed,  if  we  had  to 
go  without  food  for  two  whole 
days,  but  if  we  were  snug  and 
warm  it  would  n't  do  us  any  real 
harm.  With  the  little  wild  friends, 
especially  the  little  feathered  folks, 
it  is  a  very  different  matter.  You 
see,  they  are  naturally  so  active 
that  they  have  to  fill  their  stomachs 
very  often  in  order  to  supply  their 
little  bodies  with  heat  and  energy. 
So  when  their  food  supply  is 
wholly  cut  off,  they  starve  or  else 
freeze  to  death  in  a  very  short 


AFTER  THE  STORM  71 

time.  A  great  many  little  lives 
are  ended  this  way  in  every  long, 
hard  winter  storm. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  second  day  when  rough  Brother 
North  Wind  decided  that  he  had 
shown  his  strength  and  fierce- 
ness long  enough,  and  rumbling 
and  grumbling  retired  from  the 
Green  Meadows  and  the  Green 
Forest,  blowing  the  snow  clouds 
away  with  him.  For  just  a  little 
while  before  it  was  time  for  him  to 
go  to  bed  behind  the  Purple  Hills, 
jolly,  round,  red  Mr.  Sun  smiled 
down  on  the  white  land,  and  never 
was  his  smile  more  welcome.  Out 
from  their  shelters  hurried  all  the 
little  prisoners,  for  they  must 
make  the  most  of  the  short  time 


72  OLD  GRANNY   FOX 

before    the    coming    of    the    cold 
night. 

Little  Tommy  Tit  the  Chickadee 
was  so  weak  that  he  could  hardly 
fly,  and  he  shook  with  chills.  He 
made  straight  for  the  apple-tree 
where  Farmer  Brown's  boy  always 
keeps  a  piece  of  suet  tied  to  a 
branch  for  Tommy  and  his  friends. 
Drummer  the  Woodpecker  wan 
there  before  him.  Now  it  is 
of  the  laws  of  politeness  among 
feathered  folk  that  when  one  ik 
eating  from  a  piece  of  suet  a  new- 
comer shall  await  his  turn. 

"  Dee,  dee,  dee  ! '  said  Tommy 
Tit  faintly  but  cheerfully,  for  he 
couldn't  be  other  than  cheery  if 
he  tried.  "  Dee,  dee,  dee  !  That 
looks  good  to  me." 


AFTER  THE   STORM  73 

"It  is  good/'  mumbled  Drum- 
mer, pecking  away  at  the  suet 
greedily.  "  Come  on,  Tommy  Tit. 
Don't  wait  for  me,  for  I  won't  be 
through  for  a  long  time.  I'm 
nearly  starved,  and  I  guess  you 
must  be." 

"I  am,"  confessed  Tommy,  as 
he  flew  over  beside  Drummer. 
"  Thank  you  ever  so  much  for  not 
making  me  wait." 

"Don't  mention  it,"  replied 
Drummer,  with  his  mouth  full. 
"This  is  no  time  for  politeness. 
Here  comes  Yank  Yank  the  Nut- 
hatch. I  guess  there  is  room  for 
him  too." 

Yank  Yank  was  promptly  in- 
vited to  join  them  and  did  so  after 
apologizing  for  seeming  so  greedy. 


74  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

"  If  I  could  n't  get  my  stomach  full 
before  night,  I  certainly  should 
freeze  to  death  before  morning/' 
said  he.  "What  a  blessing  it  is 
to  have  all  this  good  food  waiting 
for  us.  If  I  had  to  hunt  for  my 
usual  food  on  the  trees,  I  certainly 
should  have  to  give  up  and  die. 
It  took  all  my  strength  to  get  over 
here.  My,  I  feel  like  a  new  bird 
already !  Here  comes  Sammy 
Jay.  I  wonder  if  he  will  try  to 
drive  us  away  as  he  usually  does." 
Sammy  did  nothing  of  the  kind. 
He  was  very  meek  and  most  polite. 
"  Can  you  make  room  for  a  starv- 
ing fellow  to  get  a  bite?"  he 
asked.  "I  wouldn't  ask  it  but 
that  I  could  n't  last  another  night 
without  food." 


AFTER  THE   STORM  75 

"  Dee,  dee,  dee  !  Always  room 
for  one  more,"  replied  Tommy  Tit, 
crowding  over  to  give  Sammy  room. 
*'  Was  n't  that  a  dreadful  storm  ? ' 

"  Worst  I  ever  knew,"  mumbled 
Sammy.  "  I  wonder  if  I  ever  will 
be  warm  again." 

Until  their  stomachs  were  full, 
not  another  word  was  said.  Mean- 
while Chatterer  the  Red  Squirrel 
had  discovered  that  the  storm  was 
over.  As  he  floundered  through 
the  snow  to  another  apple-tree  he 
saw  Tommy  Tit  and  his  friends, 
and  in  his  heart  he  rejoiced  that 
they  had  found  food  waiting  for 
them.  His  own  troubles  were  at 
an  end,  for  in  the  tree  he  was 
headed  for  was  a  store  of  corn. 


CHAPTER   XII 

GRANNY  AND  REDDY  FOX  HUNT  IN 
VAIN 

Old  Mother  Nature's  plans  for  good 
Quite  often  are  not  understood. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

TOMMY  TIT  and  Drummer  the 
Woodpecker  and  Yank  Yank  the 
Nuthatch  and  Sammy  Jay  and 
Chatterer  the  Red  Squirrel  were 
not  the  only  ones  who  were  out 
and  about  as  soon  as  the  great 
storm  ended.  Oh,  my,  no !  No, 
indeed !  Everybody  who  was  not 
sleeping  the  winter  away,  or  who 
had  not  a  store  of  food  right  at 
hand,  was  out.  But  not  all  were 


'HARD    TIMES    THESE/'    SAID    PETER    PLEASANTLY. 

Page  80. 


GRANNY  AND  REDDY  HUNT  77 

so  fortunate  as  Tommy  Tit  and  his 
friends  in  finding  a  good  meal. 

Peter  Rabbit  and  Mrs.  Peter 
came  out  of  the  hole  in  the  heart 
of  the  dear  Old  Briar-patch,  where 
they  had  managed  to  keep  comfort- 
ably warm,  and  at  once  began  to 
fill  their  stomachs  with  bark  from 
young  trees  and  tender  tips  of 
twigs.  It  was  very  coarse  food, 
but  it  would  take  away  that  empty 
feeling.  Mrs.  Grouse  burst  out  of 
the  snow  and  hurried  to  get  a  meal 
before  dark.  She  had  no  time  to 
be  particular,  and  so  she  ate  spruce 
buds.  They  were  very  bitter  and 
not  much  to  her  liking,  but  she  was 
too  hungry,  and  night  was  too  near 
for  her  to  be  fussy.  She  was  thank- 
ful to  have  that  much. 


78  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

Granny  Fox  and  Reddy  were  out 
too.  They  didn't  need  to  hurry 
because,  as  you  know,  they  could 
hunt  all  night,  but  they  were  so 
hungry  that  they  just  had  to  be 
looking  for  something  to  eat.  They 
knew,  of  course,  that  everybody 
else  would  be  out,  and  they  hoped 
that  some  of  these  little  people 
would  be  so  weak  that  they  could 
easily  be  caught.  That  seems  like 
a  dreadful  hope,  does  n't  it  ?  But 
one  of  the  first  laws  of  Old  Mother 
Nature  is  self-preservation.  That 
means  to  save  your  own  life  first 
So  perhaps  Granny  and  Reddy  are 
not  to  be  blamed  for  hoping  that 
some  of  their  neighbors  might  be 
caught  easily  because  of  the  great 
storm.  They  were  very  hungry  in- 


GRANNY  AND  REDDY  HUNT  79 

deed,  and  they  could  not  eat  bark 
like  Peter  Rabbit,  or  buds  like  Mrs. 
Grouse,  or  seeds  like  Whitefoot  the 
Woodmouse.  Their  teeth  and  stom- 
achs are  not  made  for  such  food. 

It  was  hard  going  for  Granny  and 
Reddy  Fox.  The  snow  was  soft 
and  deep  in  many  places,  and  they 
had  to  keep  pretty  close  to  those 
places  where  rough  Brother  North 
Wind  had  blown  away  enough  of  the 
snow  to  make  walking  fairly  easy. 
They  soon  found  that  their  hope 
that  they  would  find  some  of  their 
neighbors  too  weak  to  escape  was 
quite  in  vain.  When  jolly,  round, 
red  Mr.  Sun  dropped  down  behind 
the  Purple  Hills  to  go  to  bed,  their 
stomachs  were  quite  as  empty  as 
when  they  had  started  out. 


80  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

"We'll  go  down  to  the  Old 
Briar-patch.  I  don't  believe  it  will 
be  of  much  use,  but  you  never  can 
tell  until  you  try.  Peter  Rabbit 
may  take  it  into  his  silly  head  to 
come  outside,"  said  Granny,  lead- 
ing the  way. 

When  they  reached  the  dear  Old 
Briar-patch  they  found  that  Peter 
was  not  outside.  In  fact,  peering 
between  the  brambles  and  bushes, 
they  could  see  his  little  brown  form 
bobbing  about  as  he  hunted  for  ten- 
der bark.  He  had  already  made 
little  paths  along  which  he  could 
hop  easily.  Peter  saw  them  almost 
as  soon  as  they  saw  him. 

"  Hard  times  these,"  said  Peter 
pleasantly.  "  I  hope  your  stomachs 
are  not  as  empty  as  mine."  He 


GRANNY  AND  REDDY  HUNT  81 

pulled  a  strip  of  bark  from  a  young 
tree  and  began  to  chew  it.  This 
was  more  than  Reddy  could  stand. 
To  see  Peter  eating  while  his  own 
stomach  was  just  one  great  big  ache 
from  emptiness  was  too  much. 

"I'm  going  in  there  and  catch 
him,  or  drive  him  out  where  you 
can  catch  him,  if  I  tear  my  coat 
all  to  pieces  !  "  snarled  Reddy. 

Peter  stopped  chewing  and  sat 
up.  "  Come  right  along,  Reddy. 
Come  right  along  if  you  want  to, 
but  I  would  advise  you  to  save  your 
skin  and  your  coat,"  said  he. 

Reddy' s  only  reply  was  a  snarl 
as  he  pushed  his  way  under  the 
brambles.  He  yelped  as  they  tore 
his  coat  arid  scratched  his  face,  but 
he  kept  on.  Now  Peter's  paths 


82  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

were  very  cunningly  made.  He 
had  cut  them  through  the  very 
thickest  of  the  briars  just  big  enough 
for  himself  and  Mrs.  Peter  to  hop 
along  comfortably.  But  Reddy  is 
so  much  bigger  that  he  had  to  force 
his  way  through  and  in  places  crawl 
flat  on  his  stomach,  which  was  very 
slow  work,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
painful  scratches  from  the  briars. 
It  was  no  trouble  at  all  for  Peter 
to  keep  out  of  his  way,  and  before 
long  Reddy  gave  up.  Without  a 
word  Granny  Fox  led  the  way  to 
the  Green  Forest.  They  would  try 
to  find  where  Mrs.  Grouse  was 
sleeping  under  the  snow.  But 
though  they  hunted  all  night,  they 
failed  to  find  her,  for  she  wisely 
had  gone  to  bed  in  a  spruce-tree. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

GRANNY   FOX   ADMITS   GROWING   OLD 

Who  will  not  admit  he  is  older  each  day 
fools  no  one  but  himself. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

OLD  GRANNY  Fox  is  a  spry  old 
lady  for  her  age.  If  you  don't  be- 
lieve it  just  try  to  catch  her.  But 
spry  as  she  is,  she  isn't  as  spry 
as  she  used  to  be.  No,  Sir, 
Granny  Fox  isn't  as  spry  as 
she  used  to  be.  The  truth  is, 
Granny  is  getting  old.  She  never 
would  admit  it,  and  Reddy  never 
had  realized  it  until  the  day  after 
the  great  storm.  All  that  night 
they  had  hunted  in  vain  for  some- 
thing to  eat  and  at  daylight  had 


84  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

crept  into  their  house  to  rest  awhile 
before  starting  on  another  hunt. 
They  had  neither  the  strength  nor 
the  courage  to  search  any  longer 
then.  Wading  through  snow  is 
very  hard  work  at  best  and  very 
tiresome,  but  when  your  stomach 
has  been  empty  for  so  long  that  you 
almost  begin  to  wonder  what  food 
tastes  like,  it  becomes  harder  work 
still.  You  see,  it  is  food  that 
makes  strength,  and  lack  of  food 
takes  away  strength. 

This  was  why  Granny  and  Reddy 
Fox  just  had  to  rest.  Hungry  as 
they  were,  they  had  to  give  up  for 
awhile.  Reddy  flung  himself  down, 
and  if  ever  there  was  a  discouraged 
young  Fox  he  was  that  one.  "I 
wish  I  were  dead,"  he  moaned. 


GRANNY  ADMITS  GROWING  OLD    85 

"Tut,  tut,  tut!"  said  Granny 
Fox  sharply.  "  That 's  no  way  for 
a  young  Fox  to  talk  !  I  'm  ashamed 
of  you.  I  am  indeed."  Then  she 
added  more  kindly  :  "  I  know  just 
how  you  feel.  Just  try  to  forget 
your  empty  stomach  and  rest  awhile. 
We  have  had  a  tiresome,  disap- 
pointing, discouraging  night,  but 
when  you  are  rested  things  will 
not  look  quite  so  bad.  You  know 
the  old  saying : 

*  Never  a  road  so  long  is  there 

But  it  reaches  a  turn  at  last ; 
Never  a  cloud  that  gathers  swift 
But  disappears  as  fast/ 

You  think  you  couldn't  possibly 
feel  any  worse  than  you  do  right 
now,  but  you  could.  Many  a  time 
I  have  had  to  go  hungry  longer 


86  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

than  this.  After  we  have  rested 
awhile  we  will  go  over  to  the  Old 
Pasture.  Perhaps  we  will  have 
better  luck  there/' 

So  Reddy  tried  to  forget  the 
emptiness  of  his  stomach  and  actu- 
ally had  a  nap,  for  he  was  very, 
very  tired.  When  he  awoke  he 
felt  better. 

"  Well,  Granny,"  said  he,  "  let 's 
start  for  the  Old  Pasture.  The 
snow  has  crusted  over,  and  we 
won't  find  it  such  hard  going  as  it 
was  last  night." 

Granny  arose  and  folio  wed  Reddy 
out  to  the  doorstep.  She  walked 
stiffly.  The  truth  is,  she  ached  in 
every  one  of  her  old  bones.  At 
least,  that  is  the  way  it  seemed  to 
her.  She  looked  towards  the  Old 


GRANNY  ADMITS  GROWING  OLD    87 

Pasture.  It  seemed  very  far  away. 
She  sighed  wearily.  "  I  don't  be- 
lieve 1 '11  go,  Reddy,"  said  she. 
"You  run  along  and  luck  go  with 
you." 

Reddy  turned  and  stared  at 
Granny  suspiciously.  You  know 
his  is  a  very  suspicious  nature. 
Could  it  be  that  Granny  had  some 
secret  plan  of  her  own  to  get  a 
meal  and  wanted  to  get  rid  of  him  ? 

"  What 's  the  matter  with  you? ' 
he   demanded   roughly.      "  It   was 
you  who  proposed  going  over  to  the 
Old  Pasture." 

Granny  smiled.  It  was  a  sad 
sort  of  smile.  She  is  wonderfully 
sharp  and  smart,  is  Granny  Fox, 
and  she  knew  what  was  in  Reddy' s 
mind  as  well  as  if  he  had  told  her. 


88  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

"  Old  bones  don't  rest  and  recover 
as  quickly  as  young  bones,  and  I 
just  don't  feel  equal  to  going  over 
there  now/'  said  she.  "  The  truth 
is,  Reddy,  I  am  growing  old.  I 
am  going  to  stay  right  here  and  rest. 
Perhaps  then  I'll  feel  able  to  go 
hunting  to-night.  You  trot  along 
now,  and  if  you  get  more  than  a 
stomachful,  just  remember  old 
Granny  and  bring  her  a  bite." 

There  was  something  in  the  way 
Granny  spoke  that  told  Reddy  she 
was  speaking  the  truth.  It  was 
the  very  first  time  she  ever  had  ad- 
mitted that  she  was  growing  old 
and  was  no  longer  the  equal  of  any 
Fox.  Never  before  had  he  noticed 
how  gray  she  had  grown.  Reddy 
felt  a  feeling  of  shame  creep  over 


GRANNY  ADMITS  GROWING   OLD    89 

him,  —  shame  that  he  had  suspected 
Granny  of  playing  a  sharp  trick. 
And  this  little  feeling  of  shame  was 
followed  instantly  by  a  splendid 
thought.  He  would  go  out  and 
find  food  of  some  kind,  and  he 
would  bring  it  straight  back  to 
Granny.  He  had  been  taken  care 
of  by  Granny  when  he  was  little, 
and  now  he  would  repay  Granny 
for  all  she  had  done  for  him  by 
taking  care  of  her  in  her  old  age. 

"  Go  back  in  the  house  and  lie 
down,  Granny,"  said  he  kindly. 
"  I  am  going  to  get  something,  and 
whatever  it  may  be  you  shall  have 
your  share."  With  this  he  trotted 
off  towards  the  Old  Pasture  and 
somehow  he  did  n't  mind  the  ache 
in  his  stomach  as  he  had  before. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THREE  VAIN  AND  FOOLISH  WISHES 

There's  nothing  so  foolishly  silly  and  vain 
As  to  wish  for  a  thing  you  can  never  attain. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

WE  all  know  that,  yet  most  of 
us  are  just  foolish  enough  to  make 
such  a  wish  now  and  then.  I 
guess  you  have  done  it.  I  know 
I  have.  Peter  Rabbit  has  done  it 
often  and  then  laughed  at  himself 
afterwards.  I  suspect  that  even 
shrewd,  clever  old  Granny  Fox  has 
been  guilty  of  it  more  than  once. 
So  it  is  not  surprising  that  Reddy 
Fox,  terribly  hungry  as  he  was, 
should  do  a  little  foolish  wishing. 


THREE  FOOLISH  WISHES         91 

When  he  left  home  to  go  to  the 
Old  Pasture,  in  the  hope  that  he 
would  be  able  to  find  something  to 
eat  there,  he  started  off  bravely. 
It  was  cold,  very  cold  indeed,  but 
his  fur  coat  kept  him  warm  as 
long  as  he  was  moving.  The 
Green  Meadows  were  glistening 
white  with  snow.  All  the  world, 
at  least  all  that  part  of  it  with 
which  Reddy  was  acquainted,  was 
white.  It  was  beautiful,  very 
beautiful,  as  millions  of  sparkles 
flashed  in  the  sun.  But  Reddy 
had  no  thought  for  beauty ;  the 
only  thought  he  had  room  for  was 
to  get  something  to  put  in  the 
empty  stomachs  of  himself  and 
Granny  Fox. 

Jack    Frost    had    hardened    the 


92  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

snow  so  that  Reddy  no  longer  had 
to  wade  through  it.  He  could 
run  on  the  crust  now  without 
breaking  through.  This  made  it 
much  easier,  so  he  trotted  along 
swiftly.  He  had  intended  to  go 
straight  to  the  Old  Pasture,  but 
there  suddenly  popped  into  his 
head  a  memory  of  the  shelter  down 
in  a  far  corner  of  the  Old  Orchard 
which  Farmer  Brown's  boy  had 
built  for  Bob  White.  Probably 
the  Bob  White  family  were  there 
now,  and  he  might  surprise  them. 
He  would  go  there  first. 

Reddy  stopped  and  looked  care- 
fully to  make  sure  that  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  and  Bowser  the 
Hound  were  nowhere  in  sight. 
Then  he  ran  swiftly  towards  the 


THREE  FOOLISH  WISHES         93 

Old  Orchard.  Just  as  he  entered 
it  he  heard  a  merry  voice  just  over 
his  head :  "  Dee,  dee,  dee,  dee  !  " 
Reddy  stopped  and  looked  up. 
There  was  Tommy  Tit  the  Chick- 
adee clinging  tightly  to  a  big  piece 
of  fresh  suet  tied  fast  to  a  branch 
of  a  tree,  and  Tommy  was  stuffing 
himself.  Reddy  sat  down  right 
underneath  that  suet  and  looked 
up  longingly.  The  sight  of  it 
made  his  mouth  water  so  that  it 
was  almost  more  than  he  could 
stand.  He  jumped  once.  He 
jumped  twice.  He  jumped  three 
times.  But  all  his  jumping  was 
in  vain.  That  suet  was  beyond 
his  reach.  There  was  no  possible 
way  of  reaching  it  save  by  flying 
or  climbing.  Reddy^s  tongue 


94  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

hung  out  of  his  mouth  with 
longing. 

"  I  wish  I  could  climb/'  said 
Reddy. 

But  he  couldn't  climb,  and  all 
the  wishing  in  the  world  wouldn't 
enable  him  to,  as  he  very  well 
knew.  So  after  a  little  he  started 
on.  As  he  drew  near  the  far 
corner  of  the  Old  Orchard,  he  saw 
Bob  White  and  Mrs.  Bob  and  all 
the  young  Bobs  picking  up  grain 
which  Farmer  Brown's  boy  had 
scattered  for  them  just  in  front  of 
the  shelter  he  had  built  for  them. 
Reddy  crouched  down  and  very 
slowly,  an  inch  at  a  time,  he  crept 
forward,  his  eyes  shining  with 
eagerness.  Just  as  he  was  almost 
within  springing  distance,  Bob 


THREE  FOOLISH  WISHES         95 

White  gave  a  signal,  and  away 
flew  the  Bob  Whites  to  the  safety 
of  a  hemlock-tree  on  the  edge  of 
the  Green  Forest. 

Tears  of  rage  and  disappoint- 
ment welled  up  in  Roddy's  eyes. 
"  I  wish  I  could  fly/'  he  muttered, 
as  he  watched  the  brown  birds  dis- 
appear in  the  big  hemlock-tree. 

This  was  quite  as  foolish  a  wish 
as  the  other,  so  Reddy  trotted  on 
and  decided  to  go  down  past  the 
Smiling  Pool.  When  he  got  there 
he  found  it,  as  he  expected,  frozen 
over.  But  just  where  the  Laugh- 
ing Brook  joins  it  there  was  a 
little  place  wrhere  there  was  open 
water.  Billy  Mink  was  on  the 
ice  at  its  edge,  and  just  as  Reddy 
got  there  Billy  dived  in.  A 


96  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

minute  later  he  climbed  out  with 
a  fish  in  his  mouth. 

"Give  me  a  bite/'  begged 
Reddy. 

"  Catch  your  own  fish/'  retorted 
Billy  Mink.  "  I  have  to  work  hard 
enough  for  what  I  get  as  it  is." 

Reddy  was  afraid  to  go  out 
on  the  ice  where  Billy  was,  and  so 
he  sat  and  watched  him  eat  that 
fine  fish.  Then  Billy  dived  into 
the  water  again  and  disappeared. 
Reddy  waited  a  long  time,  but 
Billy  did  not  return.  "I  wish  I 
could  dive/'  gulped  Reddy,  think- 
ing of  the  fine  fish  somewhere 
under  the  ice. 

And  this  wish  was  quite  as 
foolish  as  the  other  wishes. 


CHAPTER   XV 

EEDDY  FIGHTS  A  BATTLE 

*T  is  not  the  foes  that  are  without 

But  those  that  are  within 
That  give  us  battles  that  we  find 

The  hardest  are  to  win. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

AFTEE  the  last  of  his  three  fool- 
ish  wishes,  Reddy  Fox  left  the 
Smiling  Pool  and  headed  straight 
for  the  Old  Pasture  for  which  he 
had  started  in  the  first  place.  He 
wished  now  that  he  had  gone  straight 
there.  Then  he  wouldn't  have 
seen  the  suet  tied  out  of  reach  to 
the  branch  of  a  tree  in  the  Old 
Orchard;  he  wouldn't  have  seen 
the  Bob  Whites  fly  away  to  safety 


98  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

just  as  he  felt  almost  sure  of  catch- 
ing one ;  he  would  n't  have  seen 
Billy  Mink  bring  a  fine  fish  out  of 
the  water  and  eat  it  right  before 
him.  It  is  bad  enough  to  be  starv- 
ing with  no  food  in  sight,  but  to  be 
as  hungry  as  Reddy  Fox  was  and 
to  see  food  just  out  of  reach,  to 
smell  it,  and  not  be  able  to  get  it 
is,  —  well,  it  is  more  than  most 
folks  can  stand  patiently. 

So  Reddy  Fox  was  grumbling  to 
himself  as  he  hurried  to  the  Old 
Pasture  and  his  heart  was  very 
bitter.  It  seemed  to  him  that 
everything  was  against  him.  His 
neighbors  had  food,  but  he  had 
none,  not  so  much  as  a  crumb.  It 
was  unfair.  Old  Mother  Nature 
was  unjust.  If  he  could  climb  he 


REDDY  FIGHTS  A  BATTLE      99 

could  get  food.  If  he  could  fly  he 
could  get  food.  If  he  could  dive 
he  could  get  food.  But  he  could 
neither  climb,  fly,  nor  dive.  He 
did  n't  stop  to  think  that  Old 
Mother  Nature  had  given  him  some 
of  the  sharpest  wits  in  all  the  Green 
Forest  or  on  all  the  Green  Meadows  ; 
that  she  had  given  him  a  wonderful 
nose ;  that  she  had  given  him  the 
keenest  of  ears  ;  that  she  had  given 
him  speed  excelled  by  few.  He 
forgot  these  things  and  was  so  busy 
thinking  bitterly  of  the  things  he 
didn't  have  that  he  forgot  to  use 
his  wits  and  nose  and  ears  when  he 
reached  the  Old  Pasture.  The  re- 
sult was  that  he  trotted  right  past 
Old  Jed  Thumper,  the  big  gray 
Rabbit,  who  was  sitting  behind  a 


100  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

little  bush  holding  his  breath.  The 
minute  Old  Jed  saw  that  Reddy 
was  safely  past,  he  started  for  his 
bull-briar  castle  as  fast  as  he  could. 

It  was  not  until  then  that  Reddy 
discovered  him.  Of  course,  Reddy 
started  after  him,  and  this  time  he 
made  good  use  of  his  speed.  But 
he  was  too  late.  Old  Jed  Thumper 
reached  his  castle  with  Reddy  two 
jumps  behind  him.  Reddy  knew 
now  that  there  was  no  chance  to 
catch  Old  Jed  that  day,  and  for  a 
few  minutes  he  felt  more  bitter  than 
ever.  Then  all  in  a  flash  Reddy 
Fox  became  the  shrewd,  clever  fel- 
low that  he  really  is.  He  grinned. 

"  It 's  of  no  use  to  try  to  fill  an 
empty  stomach  on  wishes/'  said  he. 
"  If  I  had  come  straight  here  and 


REDDY  FIGHTS  A  BATTLE     101 

minded  my  own  business,  I  'd  have 
caught  old  Jed  Thumper.  Now 
I'm  going  to  get  some  food  and 
I  'm  not  going  home  until  I  do/' 

Yery  wisely  Reddy  put  all  un- 
pleasant thoughts  out  of  his  head 
and  settled  down  to  using  his  wits 
and  his  eyes  and  his  ears  and  his 
nose  for  all  they  were  worth,  as 
Old  Mother  Nature  had  intended 
he  should.  All  through  the  Old 
Pasture  he  hunted,  taking  care  not 
to  miss  a  single  place  where  there 
was  the  least  chance  of  finding  food. 
But  it  was  all  in  vain.  Reddy 
gulped  down  his  disappointment. 

"Now  for  the  Big  River/'  said 
he,  and  started  off  bravely. 

When  he  reached  the  edge  of  the 
Big  River,  he  hurried  along  the 


102  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

bank  until  lie  reached  a  place  where 
the  water  seldom  freezes.  As  he 
had  hoped,  he  found  that  it  was  not 
frozen  now.  It  looked  so  black  and 
cold  that  it  made  him  shiver  just  to 
see  it.  Back  and  forth  with  his 
nose  to  the  ground  he  ran.  Sud- 
denly he  stopped  and  sniffed.  Then 
he  sniffed  again.  Then  he  followed 
his  nose  straight  to  the  very  edge 
of  the  Big  River.  There,  floating 
in  the  black  water,  was  a  dead  fish  ! 
By  wading  in  he  could  get  it. 

Reddy  shivered  at  the  touch  of 
the  cold  water,  but  what  were  wet 
feet  compared  with  such  an  empty 
stomach  as  his  ?  In  a  minute  he 
had  that  fish  and  was  back  on  the 
shore.  It  wasn't  a  very  big  fish, 
but  it  would  stop  the  ache  in  his 


REDDY  FIGHTS  A  BATTLE     103 

stomach  until  he  could  get  some- 
thing more.  With  a  sigh  of  pure 
happiness  he  sank  his  teeth  into  it 
and  then  —  well,  then  he  remem- 
bered poor  Old  Granny  Fox. 
Reddy  swallowed  a  mouthful  and 
tried  to  forget  Granny.  But  he 
could  n't.  He  swallowed  another 
mouthful.  Poor  old  Granny  was 
back  there  at  home  as  hungry  as 
he  was  and  too  stiff  and  tired  to 
hunt.  Reddy  choked.  Then  he 
began  a  battle  with  himself.  His 
stomach  demanded  that  fish.  If  he 
ate  it,  no  one  would  be  the  wiser. 
But  Granny  needed  it  even  more 
than  he  did.  For  a  long  time 
Reddy  fought  with  himself.  In 
the  end  he  picked  up  the  fish  and 
started  for  home. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

REDDY  IS  MADE  TRULY  HAPPY 

It's  what  you  do  for  others, 

Not  what  they  do  for  you, 
That  makes  you  feel  so  happy 

All  through  and  through  and  through. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

REDDY  Fox  ran  all  the  way 
home  from  the  Big  River  just  as 
fast  as  he  could  go.  In  his  mouth 
he  carried  the  fish  he  had  found 
and  from  which  he  had  taken  just 
two  bites.  You  remember  he  had 
had  a  battle  with  himself  over  that 
fish,  and  now  he  was  running  away 
from  himself.  That  sounds  funny, 
does  n't  it  ?  But  it  was  true. 
Yes,  Sir,  Reddy  Fox  was  running 


EEDDY  IS  MADE  TRULY  HAPPY  105 

away  from  himself.  He  was  afraid 
that  if  he  did  n't  get  home  to  Old 
Granny  Fox  with  that  fish  very 
soon,  he  would  eat  every  last  bit 
of  it  himself.  So  he  was  running 
his  very  hardest  so  as  to  get  there 
before  this  could  happen.  So 
really  he  was  running  away  from 
himself,  from  his  selfish  self. 

Old  Granny  Fox  was  on  the 
doorstep  watching  for  him,  and  he 
saw  just  how  her  hungry  old  eyes 
brightened  when  she  saw  him  and 
what  he  had. 

"  I  've  brought  you  something  to 
eat,  Granny/'  he  panted,  as  he  laid 
the  fish  at  her  feet.  He  was  quite 
out  of  breath  with  running.  "  It 
isn't  much,  but  it  is  something. 
It  is  all  I  could  find  for  you/' 


106  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

Granny  looked  at  the  fish  and 
then  she  looked  sharply  at  Reddy, 
and  into  those  keen  yellow  eyes  of 
hers  crept  a  soft,  tender  look,  such 
a  look  as  you  would  never  have 
believed  they  could  have  held. 

"  What  have  you  had  to  eat  ?  " 
asked  Granny  softly. 

Reddy  turned  his  head  that 
Granny  might  not  see  his  face. 
"Oh,  I've  had  something,"  said 
he,  trying  to  speak  lightly.  It 
was  true;  he  had  had  two  bites 
from  that  fish. 

Now  you  know  just  how  shrewd 
and  smart  and  wise  Granny  Fox  is. 
Reddy  didn't  fool  her  just  the 
least  little  bit.  She  took  two  small 
bites  from  the  fish. 

"  Now,"  said  she,  "  we  '11  divide 


REDDY  IS  MADE  TRULY  HAPPY   107 

it,"  and  she  bit  in  two  parts  what 
remained.  In  a  twinkling  she 
had  gulped  down  the  smallest 
part,  for  you  know  she  was  very, 
very  hungry.  "  That  is  your 
share,"  said  she,  as  she  pushed 
what  remained  over  to  Reddy. 

Reddy  tried  to  refuse  it.  "I 
brought  it  all  for  you,"  said  he. 

"I  know  you  did,  Reddy," 
replied  Granny,  and  it  seemed  to 
Reddy  that  he  never  had  known 
her  voice  to  sound  so  gentle. 
46  You  brought  it  to  me  when  all 
you  had  had  was  the  two  little 
bites  you  had  taken  from  it.  You 
can't  fool  me,  Reddy  Fox.  There 
was  n't  one  good  meal  for  either 
of  us  in  that  fish,  but  there  was 
enough  to  give  us  both  a  little 


108  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

hope  and  keep  us  from  starving. 
Now  you  mind  what  I  say  and  eat 
your  share."  Granny  said  this  last 
very  sternly. 

Reddy  looked  at  Granny,  and 
then  he  bolted  down  that  little 
piece  of  fish  without  another  word. 

"  That 's  better,"  said  Granny. 
"We  will  feel  better,  both  of  us. 
Now  that  I've  something  in  my 
stomach,  I  feel  two  years  younger. 
Before  you  came,  I  didn't  feel  as 
if  I  should  ever  be  able  to  go  on 
another  hunt.  If  you  hadn't 
brought  something,  I  —  I'm  afraid 
I  could  n't  have  lasted  much 
longer.  By  another  day  you 
probably  wouldn't  have  had  old 
Granny  to  think  of.  You  may 
not  know  it,  but  I  know  that  you 


REDDY  IS  MADE  TRULY  HAPPY    109 

saved  my  life,  Reddy.  I  had 
reached  a  point  where  I  just  had 
to  have  a  little  food.  You  know 
there  are  times  when  a  very  little 
food  is  of  more  good  than  a  lot  of 
food  could  be  later.  This  was 
one  of  those  times." 

Never  in  all  his  life  had  Reddy 
Fox  felt  so  truly  happy.  He  was 
still  hungry,  —  very,  very  hungry. 
But  he  gave  it  no  thought.  He 
had  saved  Granny  Fox,  good  old 
Granny  who  had  taught  him  all  he 
knew.  And  he  knew  that  Granny 
knew  how  he  had  had  to  fight  with 
himself  to  do  it.  Reddy  was 
happy  through  and  through  with 
the  great  happiness  that  comes 
from  having  done  something  for 
some  one  else. 


110  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

"  It  was  nothing,"  he  muttered. 

"It  was  a  very  great  deal/' 
replied  Granny.  And  then  she 
changed  the  subject.  "  How  would 
you  like  to  eat  a  dinner  of  Bowser 
the  Hound's  ?  "  she  asked. 


CHAPTER   XVH 

GRANNY  FOX  PROMISES  REDDY 
BOWSER'S  DINNER 

To  give  her  children  what  each  needs 
To  get  the  most  from  life  he  can, 

To  work  and  play  and  live  his  best, 
Is  wise  Old  Mother  Nature's  plan. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 


Old  Granny  Fox  asked 
Reddy  how  he  would  like  to  eat 
a  dinner  of  Bowser  the  Hound's, 
Reddy  looked  at  her  sharply  to  see 
if  she  were  joking  or  really  meant 
what  she  said.  Granny  looked  so 
sober  and  so  much  in  earnest  that 
Reddy  decided  she  could  n't  be  jok- 
ing, even  though  it  did  sound  that 
way. 


OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

"I  certainly  would  like  it, 
Granny.  Yes,  indeed,  I  certainly 
would  like  it,"  said  he.  "  You  — 
you  don't  suppose  he  will  give  us 
one,  do  you  ?  " 

Granny  chuckled.  "  No,  Reddy," 
said  she.  "  Bowser  is  n't  so  gener- 
ous as  all  that,  especially  to  Foxes. 
He  is  n't  going  to  give  us  that  din- 
ner ;  we  are  going  to  take  it  away 
from  him.  Yes,  Sir,  we  just  natu- 
rally are  going  to  take  it  away  from 
him." 

Reddy  did  n't  for  the  life  of  him 
see  how  it  could  be  possible  to  take 
a  dinner  away  from  Bowser  the 
Hound.  That  seemed  to  him  al- 
most as  impossible  as  it  was  for 
him  to  climb  or  fly  or  dive.  But 
he  had  great  faith  in  Granny's 


GRANNY  FOX  PROMISES       113 

cleverness.  He  remembered  how 
she  had  so  nearly  caught  Quacker 
the  Duck.  He  knew  that  all  the 
time  he  had  been  away  trying  to 
find  something  for  them  to  eat,  old 
Granny  Fox  had  been  doing  more 
than  just  rest  her  tired  old  bones. 
He  knew  that  not  for  one  single 
minute  had  her  sharp  wits  been  idle. 
He  knew  that  all  that  time  she  had 
been  studying  and  studying  to  find 
some  way  by  which  they  could  get 
something  to  eat.  So  great  was 
his  faith  in  Granny  just  then  that 
if  she  had  told  him  she  would  get 
him  a  slice  of  the  moon  he  would 
have  believed  her. 

"  If  you  say  we  can  take  a  din- 
ner away  from  Bowser  the  Hound, 
I  suppose  we  can/'  said  Reddy, 


114  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

"  though  I  don't  see  how.  But  if 
we  can,  let's  do  it  right  away. 
I  'm  hungry  enough  to  dare  almost 
anything  for  the  sake  of  something 
to  put  in  my  stomach.  It  is  so 
empty  that  little  bit  of  fish  we 
divided  is  shaking  around  as  if  it 
were  lost.  Gracious,  I  could  eat  a 
million  fish  the  size  of  that  one ! 
Have  you  thought  of  Farmer 
Brown's  hens,  Granny  ?  " 

"  Of  course,  Reddy  !  Of  course  ! 
What  a  silly  question ! "  replied 
Granny.  "  We  may  have  to  come 
to  them  yet/' 

"I  wish  I  was  at  them  right 
now,"  interrupted  Reddy  with  a 
sigh. 

"But  you  know  what  I  have 
told  you,"  went  on  Granny.  "  The 


GRANNY  FOX  PROMISES       115 

surest  way  of  getting  into  trouble 
is  to  steal  hens.  I'm  not  feeling 
quite  up  to  being  chased  by  Bowser 
the  Hound  just  now,  and  if  we  came 
right  home  we  would  give  away  the 
secret  of  where  we  live  and  might 
be  smoked  out,  and  that  would  be 
the  end  of  us.  Besides,  those  hens 
will  be  hard  to  get  this  weather, 
because  they  will  stay  in  their 
house,  and  there  is  no  way  for  us  to 
get  in  there  unless  we  walk  right 
in,  in  broad  daylight,  and  that 
would  never  do.  It  will  be  a  great 
deal  better  to  take  Bowser's  dinner 
away  from  him.  In  the  first  place, 
if  we  are  careful,  no  one  but  Bowser 
will  know  about  it,  and  as  long  as 
he  is  chained  up,  we  will  have  noth- 
ing to  worry  about  from  him.  Be- 


116  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

sides,  we  will  enjoy  getting  evei* 
with  him  for  the  times  he  has  spoiled* 
our  chances  of  catching  a  fat  chickep 
and  for  the  way  he  has  hunted  us. 
Most  decidedly  it  will  be  better  and 
safer  to  try  for  Bowser's  dinner  than 
to  try  for  one  of  those  hens." 

"  Just  as  you  say,  Granny ;  just 
as  you  say,"  returned  Reddy. 
"  You  know  best.  But  how  under 
the  sun  we  can  do  it  beats  me." 

"It  is  very  simple,"  replied 
Granny, "  very  simple  indeed.  Most 
things  are  simple  enough  when  you 
find  out  how  to  do  them.  Neither 
of  us  could  do  it  alone,  but  together 
we  can  do  it  without  the  least  bit 
of  risk.  Listen." 

Granny  went  close  to  Reddy  and 
whispered  to  him,  although  there 


GRANNY  FOX  PROMISES       117 

wasn't  a  soul  within  hearing.  A 
slow  grin  spread  over  Reddy's  face 
as  he  listened.  When  she  had  fin- 
ished, he  laughed  right  out. 

"  Granny,  you  are  a  wonder  ! ' 
he  exclaimed  admiringly.  "I  never 
should  have  thought  of  that.  Of 
course  we  can  do  it.  My,  won't 
Bowser  be  surprised !  And  how 
mad  he  11  be  !  Come  on,  let 's  be 
starting  ! " 

"All  right/'  said  Granny,  and 
the  two  started  towards  Farmer 
Brown's. 


CHAPTER   XVIH 

WHY  BOWSER  THE  HOUND  DIDN'T  EAT 
HIS  DINNER 

The  thing  you  've  puzzled  most  about 
Is  simple  once  you  Ve  found  it  out. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

BOWSEE  THE  HOUND  dearly  loves 
to  hunt  just  for  the  pleasure  of 
the  chase.  It  isn't  so  much  the 
desire  to  kill  as  it  is  the  pleasure 
of  using  that  wonderful  nose  of  his 
and  the  excitement  of  trying  to 
catch  some  one,  especially  Granny 
or  Reddy  Fox.  Farmer  Brown's 
boy  had  put  away  his  dreadful 
gun  because  he  no  longer  wanted 
to  kill  the  little  people  of  the 


WHY  BOWSER  DIDN'T  EAT    119 

Green  Forest  and  the  Green 
Meadows,  but  rather  to  make 
them  his  friends.  Bowser  had 
missed  the  exciting  hunts  he  used 
to  enjoy  so  much  with  Farmer 
Brown's  boy.  So  Bowser  had 
formed  the  habit  of  slipping  away 
alone  for  a  hunt  every  once  in  a 
while.  When  Farmer  Brown's 
boy  discovered  this,  he  got  a  chain 
and  chained  Bowser  to  his  little 
house  to  keep  him  from  running 
away  and  hunting  on  the  sly. 

Of  course  Bowser  wasn't  kept 
chained  all  the  time.  Oh,  my,  no! 
When  his  master  was  about,  where 
he  could  keep  an  eye  on  Bowser, 
he  would  let  him  go  free.  But 
whenever  he  was  going  away  and 
didn't  want  to  take  Bowser  with 


120  OLD   GRANNY  FOX 

him,  he  would  chain  Bowser  up. 
Now  Bowser  always  had  one  good 
big  meal  a  day.  To  be  sure,  he 
had  scraps  or  a  bone  now  and  then 
besides,  but  once  a  day  he  had  one 
good  big  meal  served  to  him  in  a 
large  tin  pan.  If  he  happened  to 
be  chained,  it  was  brought  out  to 
him.  If  not,  it  was  given  to  him 
just  outside  the  kitchen  door. 

Granny  Fox  knew  all  about 
this.  Sly  old  Granny  makes  it 
her  business  to  know  the  affairs 
of  other  people  around  her  because 
there  is  no  telling  when  such 
knowledge  may  be  of  use  to  her. 
So  Granny  had  watched  Bowser 
the  Hound  when  he  and  his  master 
had  no  idea  at  all  that  she  was 
anywhere  about,  and  she  had 


WHY  BOWSER  DIDN'T  EAT    121 

found  out  his  ways,  the  usual  hour 
for  his  dinner  and  just  how  far 
that  chain  would  allow  him  to  go. 
It  was  such  things  which  she  had 
stored  away  in  that  shrewd  old 
head  of  hers  that  made  her  so 
sure  she  and  Reddy  could  take 
Bowser's  dinner  away  from  him. 
It  was  just  about  Bowser's 
dinner-time  when  Granny  and 
Reddy  trotted  across  the  snow- 
covered  fields  and  crept  behind  the 
barn  until  they  could  peep  around 
the  corner.  No  one  was  in  sight, 
not  even  Bowser,  who  was  inside 
his  warm  little  house  at  the  end  of 
the  long  shed  back  of  Farmer 
Brown's  house.  Granny  saw  that 
he  was  chained  and  a  sly  grin 
crept  over  her  face. 


OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

"  You  stay  right  here  and  watch 
until  his  dinner  is  brought  out  to 
him,"  said  she  to  Reddy.  "As  soon 
as  whoever  brings  it  has  gone  back 
to  the  house  you  walk  right  out 
where  Bowser  will  see  you.  At 
the  sight  of  you,  he'll  forget  all 
about  his  dinner.  Sit  right  down 
where  he  can  see  you  and  stay 
there  until  you  see  that  I  have  got 
that  dinner,  or  until  you  hear 
somebody  coming,  for  you  know 
Bowser  will  make  a  great  racket. 
Then  slip  around  back  of  the  barn 
and  join  me  back  of  that  shed." 

So  Reddy  sat  down  to  watch, 
and  Granny  left  him.  By  and  by 
Mrs.  Brown  came  out  of  the  house 
with  a  pan  full  of  good  things. 
She  put  it  down  in  front  of 


WHY  BOWSER  DIDN'T  EAT    123 

Bowser's  little  house  and  called  to 
him.  Then  she  turned  and  hurried 
back,  for  it  was  very  cold.  Bowser 
came  out  of  his  little  house, 
yawned  and  stretched  lazily. 

It  was  time  for  Reddy  to  do  his 
part.  Out  he  walked  and  sat 
down  right  in  front  of  Bowser  and 
grinned  at  him.  Bowser  stared 
for  a  minute  as  if  he  doubted  his 
own  eyes.  Such  impudence! 
Bowser  growled.  Then  with  a 
yelp  he  sprang  towards  Reddy. 

Now  the  chain  that  held  him 
was  long,  but  Reddy  had  taken 
care  not  to  get  too  near,  and  of 
course  Bowser  could  n't  reach  him. 
He  tugged  with  all  his  might  and 
yelped  and  barked  frantically,  but 
Reddy  just  sat  there  and  grinned 


124  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

in  the  most  provoking  manner. 
It  was  great  fun  to  tease  Bowser 
this  way. 

Meanwhile  old  Granny  Fox  had 
stolen  out  from  around  the  corner 
of  the  shed  behind  Bowser.  Get- 
ting hold  of  the  edge  of  the  pan 
with  her  teeth  she  pulled  it  back 
with  her  around  the  corner  and  out 
of  sight.  If  she  made  any  noise, 
Bowser  didn't  hear  it.  He  was 
making  too  much  noise  himself  and 

o 

was  too  excited.  Presently  Reddy 
heard  the  sound  of  an  opening  door. 
Mrs.  Brown  was  coming  to  see  what 
all  the  fuss  was  about.  Like  a 
flash  Reddy  darted  behind  the 
barn,  and  all  Mrs.  Brown  saw  was 
Bowser  tugging  at  his  chain  as  he 
whined  and  yelped  excitedly. 


WHY  BOWSER  DIDN'T  EAT    125 

"  I  guess  he  must  have  seen  a 
stray  cat  or  something/'  said  Mrs. 
Brown  and  went  back  in  the  house. 
Bowser  continued  to  whine  and 
tug  at  his  chain  for  a  few  minutes. 
Then  he  gave  it  up  and,  growling 
deep  in  his  throat,  turned  to  eat 
his  dinner.  But  there  was  n't  an y 
dinner  !  It  had  disappeared,  pan 
and  all !  Bowser  could  n't  under- 
stand it  at  all. 

Back  of  the  shed  Granny  and 
Reddy  Fox  licked  that  pan  clean ; 
licked  it  until  it  was  polished. 
Then,  with  little  sighs  of  satisfac- 
tion, and  every  once  in  a  while 
a  chuckle,  they  trotted  happily 
home. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

OLD  MAN  COYOTE  DOES  A   LITTLE' 
THINKING 

Investigate  and  for  yourself  find  out 

Those  things  which  most  you  want  to  know 

about. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

NEVER  in  all  his  life  had  Reddy 
Fox  enjoyed  a  dinner  more  than 
that  one  he  and  Granny  had  stolen 
from  Bowser  the  Hound.  Of  course 
it  would  have  tasted  delicious  any- 
way, because  they  were  so  dreadfully 
hungry,  but  to  Reddy  it  tasted  better 
still  because  it  had  been  intended 
for  Bowser.  Bowser  has  hunted 
Reddy  so  often  that  Reddy  has  no 
love  for  him  at  all,  and  it  tickled 


OLD  MAN  COYOTE  127 

him  almost  to  death  to  think  that 
they  had  taken  his  dinner  from 
almost  under  his  nose. 

With  that  good  dinner  in  their 
stomachs,  Reddy  and  Granny  Fox 
felt  so  much  better  that  the  Great 
World  no  longer  seemed  such  a  cold 
and  cruel  place.  Funny  how  differ- 
ently things  look  when  your  stomach 
is  full  from  the  way  those  same 
things  look  when  it  is  empty.  Best 
of  all  they  knew  they  could  play 
the  same  sharp  trick  again  and  steal 
another  dinner  from  Bowser  if  need 
be.  It  is  a  comforting  feeling,  a 
very  comforting  feeling,  to  know 
for  a  certainty  where  you  can  get 
another  meal.  It  is  a  feeling  that 
Granny  and  Reddy  Fox  and  many 
other  little  people  of  the  Green 


128  OLD   GRANNY  FOX 

Meadows  and  the  Green  Forest  sel- 
dom have  in  winter.  As  a  rule, 
when  they  have  eaten  one  meal, 
they  haven't  the  least  idea  where 
the  next  one  is  coming  from.  How 
would  you  like  to  live  that  way  ? 

The  very  next  day  Granny  and 
Reddy  went  up  to  Farmer  Brown's 
at  Bowser's  dinner  hour.  But  this 
time  Farmer  Brown's  boy  was  at 
work  near  the  barn,  and  Bowser 
was  not  chained.  Granny  and 
Reddy  stole  away  as  silently  as 
they  had  come.  On  the  day  follow- 
ing they  found  Bowser  chained  and 
stole  another  dinner  from  him ;  then 
they  went  away  laughing  until  their 
sides  ached  as  they  heard  Bowser's 
whines  of  surprise  and  disappoint- 
ment when  he  discovered  that  his 


OLD  MAN  COYOTE  129 

dinner  had  vanished.  They  knew 
by  the  sound  of  his  voice  that  he 
had  n't  the  least  idea  what  had  be- 
come of  that  dinner. 

Now  there  was  some  one  else 
roaming  over  the  snow-covered 
meadows  and  through  the  Green 
Forest  and  the  Old  Pasture  these 
days  with  a  stomach  so  lean  and 
empty  that  he  couldn't  think  of 
anything  else.  It  was  Old  Man 
Coyote.  You  know  he  is  very 
clever,  is  Old  Man  Coyote,  and  he 
managed  to  find  enough  food  of 
one  kind  and  another  to  keep  him 
alive,  but  never  enough  to  give  him 
that  comfortable  feeling  of  a  full 
stomach.  While  he  was  n't  actually 
starving,  he  was  always  hungry. 
So  he  spent  all  the  time  when  he 


OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

if  as  n't    sleeping    in    hunting    for 

something  to  eat. 

Of  course  he  often  ran  across  the 
tracks  of  Granny  and  Reddy  Fox, 
and  once  in  a  while  he  would  meet 
them.  It  struck  Old  Man  Coyote 
that  they  did  n't  seem  as  thin  as  he 
was.  That  set  him  to  thinking. 
Neither  of  them  was  a  smarter  hunter 
than  he.  In  fact,  he  prided  himself 
on  being  smarter  than  either  of  them. 
Yet  when  he  met  them,  they  seemed 
to  be  in  the  best  of  spirits  and  not 
at  all  worried  because  food  was  so 
scarce.  Why?  There  must  be  a 
reason.  They  must  be  getting  food 
of  which  he  knew  nothing. 

"  1 11  just  keep  an  eye  on  them/' 
muttered  Old  Man  Coyote. 

So  very  slyly  and  cleverly  Old 


OLD  MAN  COYOTE  131 

Man  Coyote  followed  Granny  and 
Reddy  Fox,  taking  the  greatest  care 
that  they  should  not  suspect  that  he 
was  doing  it.  All  one  night  he 
followed  them  through  the  Green 
Forest  and  over  the  Green  Meadows, 
and  when  at  last  he  saw  them  go 
home,  appearing  not  at  all  worried 
because  they  had  caught  nothing, 
he  trotted  off  to  his  own  home  to 
do  some  more  thinking. 

"  They  are  getting  food  some- 
where, that  is  sure/'  he  muttered,  as 
he  scratched  first  one  ear  and  then 
the  other.  Somehow  he  could  think 
better  when  he  was  scratching  his 
ears.  "  If  they  don't  get  it  in  the 
night,  and  they  certainly  did  n't  get 
anything  this  night,  they  must  get 
it  in  the  daytime.  I've  done  con- 


132  OLD   GRANNY  FOX 

siderable  hunting  myself  in  the  day- 
time, and  I  have  n't  once  met  them 
in  the  Green  Forest  or  seen  them 
on  the  Green  Meadows  or  up  in  the 
Old  Pasture.  I  wonder  if  they  are 
stealing  ^armer  Brown's  hens  and 
have  n't  beer  found  out  yet.  I  've 
kept  away  from  there  myself,  but 
if  they  can  steal  hens  and  not  be 
caught,  I  certainly  can.  There 
never  was  a  Fox  yet  smart  enough 
to  do  a  thing  that  a  Coyote  cannot 
do  if  he  tries.  I  think  I  '11  slip  up 
where  I  can  watch  Farmer  Brown's 
and  see  what  is  going  on  up  there. 
Yes,  Sir,  that 's  what  I  '11  do." 

With  this,  Old  Man  Coyote 
grinned  and  then  curled  himself  up 
for  a  short  nap,  for  he  was  tired. 


CHAPTER   XX 

A  TWICE  STOLEN  DINNER 

No  one  ever  is  so  smart  that  some  one  else 
may  not  prove  to  be  smarter  still. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

LISTEN  and  you  shall  hear  all 
about  three  rogues.  Two  were  in 
red  and  were  Granny  and  Reddy 
Fox.  And  one  was  in  gray  and  was 
Old  Man  Coyote.  They  were  the 
t  slyest,  smartest  rogues  on  all  the 
Green  Meadows  or  in  all  the  Green 
Forest.  All  three  had  started  out 
to  steal  the  same  dinner,  but  the 
funny  part  is  they  did  n't  intend  to 
steal  it  from  the  same  person. 
And  still  funnier  is  it  that  one  of 


134  OLD   GRANNY  FOX 

them  did  n't  even  know  where  that 
dinner  was  or  what  kind  of  a 
dinner  it  would  be. 

True  to  his  resolve  to  know 
what  Granny  and  Reddy  Fox  were 
getting  to  eat,  and  where  they 
were  getting  it,  Old  Man  Coyote 
hid  where  he  could  see  what  was 
going  on  about  Farmer  Brown's, 
for  it  was  there  he  felt  sure  that 
Granny  and  Reddy  were  getting 
food.  He  had  waited  only  a  little 
while  when  along  came  Granny 
and  Reddy  Fox  past  the  place 
where  Old  Man  Coyote  was  hiding. 
They  didn't  see  him.  Of  course 
not.  He  took  care  that  they 
should  have  no  chance.  But  any- 
way, they  were  not  thinking  of 
him.  Their  thoughts  were  all  of 


A  TWICE   STOLEN  DINNER 

that  dinner  they  intended  to  have, 
and  the  smart  trick  by  which  they 
would  get  it. 

So  with  their  thoughts  all  on 
that  dinner  they  slipped  up  behind 
the  barn  and  prepared  to  work  the 
trick  which  had  been  so  successful 
before.  Old  Man  Coyote  crept 
after  them.  He  saw  Reddy  Fox 
lie  down  where  he  could  peep 
around  the  corner  of  the  barn  to 
watch  Bowser  the  Hound  and  to 
see  that  no  one  else  was  about, 
He  saw  Granny  leave  Reddy  there 
and  hurry  away.  Old  Man  Coy- 
ote's wits  worked  fast. 

"I  can't  be  in  two  places  at 
once/'  thought  he,  "  so  I  can't 
watch  both  Granny  and  Reddy. 
As  I  can  watch  but  one,  which 


136  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

one  shall  it  be  ?  Granny,  of  course, 
Granny  is  the  smartest  of  the  two, 
and  whatever  they  are  up  to,  she  is 
at  the  bottom  of  it.  Granny  is  the 
one  to  follow." 

So,  like  a  gray  shadow,  crafty 
Old  Man  Coyote  stole  after  Granny 
Fox  and  saw  her  hide  behind  the 
corner  of  the  shed  at  the  end  of 
which  was  the  little  house  of  Bowser 
the  Hound.  He  crept  as  near  as 
he  dared  and  then  lay  flat  down 
behind  a  little  bunch  of  dead  grass 
close  to  the  shed.  For  some  time 
nothing  happened,  and  Old  Man 
Coyote  was  puzzled.  Every  once 
in  a  while  Granny  Fox  would  look 
behind  and  all  about  to  be  sure 
that  no  danger  was  near,  but  she 
did  n't  see  Old  Man  Coyote.  After 


A  TWICE  STOLEN  DINNER     137 

what  seemed  to  him  a  long  time, 
he  heard  a  door  open  on  the  other 
side  of  the  shed.  It  was  Mrs. 
Brown  carrying  Bowser's  dinner 
out  to  him.  Of  course,  Old  Man 
Coyote  did  n't  know  this.  He 
knew  by  the  sounds  that  some  one 
had  come  out  of  the  house,  and  it 
made  him  nervous.  He  did  n't  like 
being  so  close  to  Farmer  Brown's 
house  in  broad  daylight.  But  he 
kept  his  eyes  on  Granny  Fox,  and 
he  saw  her  ears  prick  up  in  a  way 
that  he  knew  meant  that  those 
sounds  were  just  what  she  had 
been  waiting  for. 

"If  she  isn't  afraid,  I  don't 
need  to  be,"  thought  he  craftily. 
After  a  few  minutes  he  heard  a 
door  close  and  knew  that  whoever 


138  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

had  come  out  bad  gone  back  into 
the  house.  Almost  at  once  Bowser 
the  Hound  began  to  yelp  and 
whine.  Swiftly  Granny  Fox  dis- 
appeared around  the  corner  of  the 
shed.  Just  as  swiftly  Old  Man 
Coyote  ran  forward  and  peeped 
around  the  corner.  There  was 
Bowser  the  Hound  tugging  at  his 
chain,  and  just  beyond  his  reach 
was  Reddy  Fox,  grinning  in  the 
most  provoking  manner.  And 
there  was  Granny  Fox,  backing 
and  dragging  after  her  Bowser's 
dinner.  In  a  flash  Old  Man 
Coyote  understood  the  plan,  and 
he  almost  chuckled  aloud  at  the 
cleverness  of  it.  Then  he  hastily 
backed  behind  the  shed  and  waited. 
In  a  minute  Granny  Fox  ap- 


A  TWICE  STOLEN  DINNER     IS? 

peared,  dragging  Bowser's  dinner 
She  was  so  intent  on  getting  that 
dinner  that  she  almost  backed  into 
Old  Man  Coyote  without  suspect- 
ing that  he  was  anywhere  about. 

"  Thank  you,  Granny.  You 
need  n't  bother  about  it  any  longer; 
111  take  it  now/'  growled  Old 
Man  Coyote  in  Granny's  ear. 

Granny  let  go  of  that  dinner  as 
if  it  burned  her  tongue,  and  with 
a  frightened  little  yelp  leaped  to* 
one  side.  A  minute  later  Reddj 
came  racing  around  from  behind 
the  barn  eager  for  his  share., 
What  he  saw  was  Old  Man  Coyote 
bolting  down  that  twice-stolen 
dinner  while  Granny  Fox  fairly 
danced  with  rage. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

GRANNY  AND  REDDY  TALK  THING*. 
OVER 

You  '11  find  as  on  through  life  you  go 
The  thing  you  want  may  prove  to  be 

The  very  thing  you  should  n't  have. 
Then  seeming  loss  is  gain,  you  see. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

IP  ever  two  folks  were  mad  away 
through,  those  two  were  Granny 
and  Reddy  Fox  as  they  watched 
Old  Man  Coyote  gobble  up  the  din- 
ner they  had  so  cleverly  stolen  from 
Bowser  the  Hound.  It  was  bad 
enough  to  lose  the  dinner,  but  it 
was  worse  to  see  some  one  else  eat 
it  after  they  had  worked  so  hard 
to  get  it.  "  Robber ! "  snarled 


GRANNY  AND  REDDY  TALK    141 

Granny.  Old  Man  Coyote  stopped 
eating  long  enough  to  grin. 

"Thief!  Sneak!  Coward!" 
snarled  Reddy.  Once  more  Old 
Man  Coyote  grinned.  When  that 
dinner  had  disappeared  down  his 
throat  to  the  last  and  smallest 
crumb,  he  licked  his  chops  and 
turned  to  Granny  and  Reddy. 

"  I  'm  very  much  obliged  for  that 
dinner/'  said  he  pleasantly,  his  eyes 
twinkling  with  mischief.  "It  was 
the  best  dinner  I  have  had  for  a 
long  time.  Allow  me  to  say  that 
that  trick  of  yours  was  as  smart  a 
trick  as  ever  I  have  seen.  It  was 
quite  worthy  of  a  Coyote.  You  are 
a  very  clever  old  lady,  Granny 
Fox.  Now  I  hear  some  one  com- 
ing, and  I  would  suggest  that  it 


142  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

will  be  better  for  all  concerned  if 
we  are  not  seen  about  here." 

He  darted  off  behind  the  barn 
like  a  gray  streak,  and  Granny  and 
Reddy  followed,  for  it  was  true 
that  some  one  was  coming.  You 
see  Bowser  the  Hound  had  discov- 
ered that  something  was  going  on 
around  the  corner  of  the  shed,  and 
he  made  such  a  racket  that  Mrs. 
Brown  had  come  out  of  the  house 
to  see  what  it  was  all  about.  By 
the  time  she  got  around  there,  all 
she  saw  was  the  empty  pan  which 
had  held  Bowser's  dinner.  She 
was  puzzled.  How  that  pan  could 
be  where  it  was  she  could  n't 
understand,  and  Bowser  could  n't 
tell  her,  although  he  tried  his 
very  best.  She  had  been  puzzled 


GRANNY  AND  REDDY  TALK    143 

Jbout  that  pan  two  or  three  times 
before. 

Old  Man  Coyote  lost  no  time  in 
getting  back  home,  for  he  never 
felt  easy  near  the  home  of  man  in 
broad  daylight.  Granny  and  Reddy 
Fox  went  home  too,  and  there  was 
hate  in  their  hearts,  —  hate  for 
Old  Man  Coyote.  But  once  they 
reached  home,  Old  Granny  Fox 
stopped  growling,  and  presently 
she  began  to  chuckle. 

"  What  are  you  laughing  at  ? ' 
demanded  Reddy. 

"At  the  way  Old  Man  Coyote 
stole  that  dinner  from  us/'  replied 
Granny. 

"  I  hate  him  !  He 's  a  sneak- 
ing robber  ! '  snapped  Reddy. 

"  Tut,  tut,  Reddy !     Tut,  tut ! " 


144  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

retorted  Granny.  "Be  fair-minded. 
We  stole  that  dinner  from  Bowser 
the  Hound,  and  Old  Man  Coyote 
stole  it  from  us.  I  guess  he  is  no 
worse  than  we  are,  when  you  come 
to  think  it  over.  Now  is  he  ? '' 

"I  —  I  —  well,  I  don't  suppose 
he  is,  when  you  put  it  that  way/' 
Reddy  admitted  grudgingly. 

"  And  he  was  smart,  very  smart, 
to  outwit  two  such  clever  people  as 
we  are,"  continued  Granny.  "  You 
will  have  to  agree  to  that." 

"Y-e-s,"  said  Reddy  slowly. 
"He  was  smart  enough,  but — " 

"  There  is  n't  any  but,  Reddy," 
interrupted  Granny.  "  You  know 
the  law  of  the  Green  Meadows  and 
the  Green  Forest.  It  is  everybody 
for  himself,  and  anything  belongs  to 


GRANNY  AND  REDDY  TALK    145 

one  who  has  the  wit  or  the  strength 
to  take  it.  We  had  the  wit  to  take 
that  dinner  from  Bowser  the  Hound, 
and  Old  Man  Coyote  had  the  wit 
to  take  it  from  us  and  the  strength 
to  keep  it.  It  was  all  fair  enough, 
and  you  know  there  is  n't  the  least 
use  in  crying  over  spilled  milk,  as 
the  saying  is.  We  simply  have  got 
to  be  smart  enough  not  to  let  him 
fool  us  again.  I  guess  we  won't 
get  any  more  of  Bowser's  dinners 
for  a  while.  We've  got  to  think 
of  some  other  way  of  filling  our 
stomachs  when  the  hunting  is  poor. 
I  think  if  I  could  have  just  one  of 
those  fat  hens  of  Farmer  Brown's, 
it  would  put  new  strength  into  my 
old  bones.  All  summer  I  warned 
you  to  keep  away  from  that  hen- 


146  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

yard,  but  the  time  has  come  now 
when  I  think  we  might  try  for  a 
couple  of  those  hens." 

Reddy  pricked  up  his  ears  at  the 
mention  of  fat  hens.  "I  think  so 
too/'  said  he.  "When  shall  we 
try  for  one  ?  " 

"  To-morrow  morning,"  replied 
Granny.  "  Now  don't  bother  me 
while  I  think  out  a  plan." 


CHAPTER   XXH 

GRANNY  FOX  PLANS  TO  GET  A  FAT  HEN 

Full  half  success  for  Fox  or  Man 
Is  won  by  working  out  a  plan. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 


Fox  knows  this.  No 
one  knows  it  better.  Whatever  she 
does  is  first  carefully  planned  in  her 
wise  old  head.  So  now  after  she 
had  decided  that  she  and  Reddy 
would  try  for  one  of  Farmer 
Brown's  fat  hens,  she  lay  down  to 
think  out  a  plan  to  get  that  fat 
hen.  No  one  knew  better  than 
she  how  foolish  it  would  be  to  go 
over  to  that  henyard  and  just  trust 


148  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

to  luck  for  a  chance  to  catch  one 
of  those  biddies.  Of  course,  they 
might  be  lucky  and  get  a  hen  that 
way,  but  then  again  they  might 
be  unlucky  and  get  in  a  peck  of 
trouble. 

"You  see,"  said  she  to  Reddy, 
"  we  must  not  only  plan  how  to  get 
that  fat  hen,  but  we  must  also  plan 
how  to  get  away  with  it  safely. 
If  only  there  was  some  way  of  get- 
ting in  that  henhouse  at  night, 
there  would  be  no  trouble  at  all. 
I  don't  suppose  there  is  the  least 
chance  of  that." 

"  Not  the  least  chance  in  the 
world,"  replied  Reddy.  "There 
is  n't  a  hole  anywhere  big  enough 
for  even  Shadow  the  Weasel  to  get 
through,  and  Farmer  Brown's  boy 


GRANNY  PLANS  TO  GET  A  HEN    149 

is  very  careful  to  lock  the  door  every 
night." 

"  There 's  a  little  hole  that  the 
hens  go  in  and  out  of  during  the 
day,  which  is  big  enough  for  one  of 
us  to  slip  through,  I  believe,"  said 
Granny  thoughtfully. 

"  Sure  !  But  it 's  always  closed 
at  night/'  snapped  Reddy.  "Be- 
sides, to  get  to  that  or  the  door 
either,  you  have  got  to  get  inside 
the  henyard,  and  there 's  a  gate  to 
that  which  we  can't  open." 

"People  are  sometimes  careless, 
—  even  you,  Reddy/'  said  Granny. 

Reddy  squirmed  uneasily,  for  he 
had  been  in  trouble  many  times 
through  carelessness.  "  Well,  what 
of  it  ? '  he  demanded  a  wee  bit 
crossly. 


150  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

"  Nothing  much,  only  if  that  hen- 
yard  gate  should  happen  to  be  left 
open,  and  if  Farmer  Brown's  boy 
should  happen  to  forget  to  close 
that  little  hole  that  the  hens  go 
through,  and  if  we  happened  to  be 
around  at  just  that  time  —  " 

"  Too  many  ifs  to  get  a  dinner 
with,"  interrupted  Reddy. 

"  Perhaps/'  replied  Granny 
mildly,  "  but  I  've  noticed  that  it 
is  the  one  who  has  an  eye  open  for 
all  the  little  ifs  in  life  that  fares 
the  best.  Now  I  've  kept  an  eye  on 
that  henyard,  and  I  've  noticed  that 
Very  often  Farmer  Brown's  boy 
does  ri*t  close  the  henyard  gate  at 
night.  I  suppose  he  thinks  that 
if  the  henhouse  door  is  locked,  the 
gate  does  n't  matter.  Any  one  who 


GRANNY  PLANS  TO  GET  A  HEN    151 

is  careless  about  one  tiling,  is  likely 
to  be  careless  about  another.  Some- 
time he  may  forget  to  close  that 
hole.  I  told  you  that  we  would  try 
for  one  of  those  hens  to-morrow 
morning,  but  the  more  I  think 
about  it,  the  more  I  think  it  will 
be  wiser  to  visit  that  henhouse  a 
few  nights  before  we  run  the  risk 
of  trying  to  catch  a  hen  in  broad 
daylight.  In  fact,  I  am  pretty  sure 
I  can  make  Farmer  Brown's  boy 
forget  to  close  that  gate." 

"  How  ?  "  demanded  Reddy 
eagerly. 

Granny  grinned.  "I'll  try  it 
first  and  tell  you  afterwards/'  said 
she.  "I  believe  Farmer  Brown's 
boy  closes  the  henhouse  up  just  be- 
fore jolly,  round,  red  Mr.  Sun  goes 


152  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

to  bed  behind  the  Purple  Hills, 
doesn't  he  ?  " 

Reddy  nodded.  Many  times  from 
a  safe  hiding-place  he  had  hungrily 
watched  Farmer  Brown's  boy  shut 
the  biddies  up.  It  was  always  just 
before  the  Black  Shadows  began 
to  creep  out  from  their  hiding- 
places. 

"I  thought  so/'  said  Granny. 
The  truth  is,  she  knew  so.  There 
was  nothing  about  that  henhouse 
and  what  went  on  there  that  Granny 
did  n't  know  quite  as  well  as  Reddy. 
"  You  stay  right  here  this  afternoon 
until  I  return.  I  '11  see  what  I  can 
do." 

"Let  me  go  along/'  begged 
Reddy. 

"  No/'  replied  Granny  in  such  a 


GRANNY  PLANS  TO  GET  A  HEN    153 

decided  tone  that  Reddy  knew  it 
would  be  of  no  use  to  tease. 
"  Sometimes  two  can  do  what  one 
cannot  do  alone,  and  sometimes  one 
can  do  what  two  might  spoil.  Now 
we  may  as  well  take  a  nap  until  it 
is  time  for  Mr.  Sun  to  go  to  bed. 
Just  you  leave  it  to  your  old  Granny 
to  take  care  of  the  first  of  those  ifs. 
For  the  other  one  we'll  have  to 
trust  to  luck,  but  you  know  we  are 
lucky  sometimes." 

With  this  Granny  curled  up  for 
a  nap,  and  having  nothing  better 
to  do,  Reddy  followed  her  example. 


CHAPTER   XXIH 

FARMER  BROWN'S  BOY  FORGETS  TO 
CLOSE  THE  GATE 

How  easy  'tis  to  just  forget 

Until,  alas,  it  is  too  late. 
The  most  methodical  of  folks 

Sometimes  forget  to  shut  the  gate. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

FARMER  BROWNS  BOY  is  not 
usually  the  forgetful  kind.  He  is 
pretty  good  about  not  forgetting. 
But  Farmer  Brown's  boy  is  n't  per- 
fect by  any  means.  He  does  for- 
get sometimes,  and  lie  is  careless 
sometimes.  He  would  be  a  funny 
kind  of  boy  otherwise.  But  take 
it  day  in  and  day  out,  he  is  pretty 
thoughtful  and  careful. 


FARMER  BROWN'S  BOY  FORGETS  155 

The  care  of  the  hens  is  one  of 
Farmer  Brown's  boy's  duties.  It 
is  one  of  those  duties  which  most 
of  the  time  is  a  pleasure.  He 
likes  the  biddies,  and  he  likes  to 
take  care  of  them.  Every  morn- 
ing one  of  the  first  things  he  does 
is  to  feed  them  and  open  the  hen- 
house so  that  they  can  run  in  the 
henyard  if  they  want  to.  Every 
night  he  goes  out  just  before  dark, 
collects  the  eggs  and  locks  the 
henhouse  so  that  no  harm  can 
come  to  the  biddies  while  they  are 
asleep  on  their  roosts.  After  the 
big  snowstorm  he  had  shovelled  a 
place  in  the  henyard  where  the 
hens  could  come  out  and  exercise 
and  get  a  sun-bath  when  they 
wanted  to,  and  in  the  very  warm- 


156  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

est  part  of  the  day  they  would  do 
this.  Always  in  the  daytime  he 
took  the  greatest  care  to  see  that 
the  henyard  gate  was  fastened,  for 
no  one  knew  better  than  he  how 
bold  Granny  and  Reddy  Fox  can 
be  when  they  are  very  hungry, 
and  in  winter  they  are  very  apt  to 
be  very  hungry  most  of  the  time. 
So  he  did  n't  intend  to  give  them  a 
chance  to  slip  into  that  henyard 
while  the  biddies  were  out,  or  to 
give  the  biddies  a  chance  to  stray 
outside  where  they  might  be  still 
more  easily  caught. 

But  at  night  he  sometimes  left 
that  gate  open,  as  Granny  Fox 
had  found  out.  You  see,  he 
thought  it  didn't  matter  because 
the  hens  were  locked  in  their 


FARMER  BROWN'S  BOY  FORGETS  157 

warm  house  and  so  were  safe, 
anyway. 

It  was  just  at  dusk  of  the  after- 
noon of  the  day  when  Granny  and 
Reddy  Fox  had  talked  over  a  plan 
to  get  one  of  those  fat  hens  that 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  collected  the 
eggs  and  saw  to  it  that  the  biddies 
had  gone  to  roost  for  the  night. 
He  had  just  started  to  close  the 
little  sliding  door  across  the  hole 
through  which  the  hens  went  in 
and  out  in  the  daytime  when 
Bowser  the  Hound  began  to  make 
a  great  racket,  as  if  terribly  ex- 
cited about  something. 

Farmer  Brown's  boy  gave  the 
little  sliding  door  a  hasty  push, 
picked  up  his  basket  of  eggs, 
locked  the  henhouse  door  and  hur- 


158  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

ried  out  through  the  gate  without 
stopping  to  close  it.  You  see,  he 
was  in  a  hurry  to  find  out  what 
Bowser  was  making  such  a  fuss 
about.  Bowser  was  yelping  and 
whining  and  tugging  at  his  chain, 
and  it  was  plain  to  see  that  he  was 
terribly  eager  to  be  set  free. 

"What  is  it,  Bowser,  old  boy? 
Did  you  see  something?"  asked 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  as  he  patted 
Bowser  on  the  head.  "  I  can  't  let 
you  go,  you  know,  because  you 
probably  would  go  off  hunting  all 
night  and  come  home  in  the  morn- 
ing all  tired  out  and  with  sore 
feet.  Whatever  it  was,  I  guess 
you've  scared  it  out  of  a  year's 
growth,  old  fellow,  so  we'll  let  it 
go  at  that." 


FARMER  BROWN'S  BOY  FORGETS  159 

Bowser  still  tugged  at  his  chain 
and  whined,  but  after  a  little  he 
quieted  down.  His  master  looked 
around  behind  the  barn  to  see  if 
he  could  see  what  had  so  stirred 
up  Bowser,  but  nothing  was  to  be 
seen,  and  he  returned,  patted 
Bowser  once  more,  and  went  into 
the  house,  never  once  giving  that 
open  henyard  gate  another  thought. 

Half  an  hour  later  old  Granny 
Fox  joined  Reddy  Fox,  who  was 
waiting  on  the  doorstep  of  their 
home.  "It  is  all  right,  Reddy; 
that  gate  is  open,"  said  she. 

"How  did  you  do  it,  Granny?" 
asked  Reddy  eagerly. 

"Easily  enough /'replied  Granny. 
"  I  let  Bowser  get  a  glimpse  of  me 
just  as  his  master  was  locking  up 


160  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

the  henhouse.  Bowser  made  a 
great  fuss,  and  of  course,  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  hurried  out  to  see 
what  it  was  all  about.  He  was 
in  too  much  of  a  hurry  to  close 
that  gate,  and  afterwards  he  for- 
got all  about  it  or  else  he  thought 
it  didn't  matter.  Of  course,  I 
didn't  let  him  get  so  much  as  a 
glimpse  of  me." 

"  Of  course/'  said  Reddy. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

A  MIDNIGHT  VISIT 

By  those  who  win  't  is  well  agreed 
He'll  try  and  try  who  would  succeed. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

IT  seemed  to  Reddy  Fox  as  if 
time  never  had  dragged  so  slowly 
as  it  did  this  particular  night 
while  he  and  Granny  Fox  waited 
until  Granny  thought  it  safe  to 
visit  Farmer  Brown's  henhouse  and 
see  if  by  any  chance  there  was  a 
way  of  getting  into  it.  Reddy 
tried  not  to  hope  too  much. 
Granny  had  found  a  way  to  get 
the  gate  to  the  henyard  left  open, 
but  this  would  do  them  no  good 


162  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

unless  there  was  some  way  of  get- 
ting into  the  house,  and  this  he 
very  much  doubted.  But  if  there 
was  a  way  he  wanted  to  know  it, 
and  he  was  impatient  to  start. 

But  Granny  was  in  no  hurry. 
Not  that  she  was  n't  just  as  hungry 
for  a  fat  hen  as  was  Reddy,  but 
she  was  too  wise  and  clever  and 
altogether  too  sly  to  run  any  risks. 

"  There  is  nothing  gained  by 
being  in  too  much  of  a  hurry, 
Reddy,"  said  she,  "  and  often  a  great 
deal  is  lost  in  that  way.  A  fat 
hen  will  taste  just  as  good  a  little 
later  as  it  would  now,  and  it  will 
be  foolish  to  go  up  to  Farmer 
Brown's  until  we  are  sure  that 
everybody  up  there  is  asleep.  But 
to  ease  your  mind,  I  '11  tell  you  what 


A  MIDNIGHT  VISIT  163 

we  will  do  ;  we  '11  go  where  we  can 
see  Farmer  Brown's  house  and 
watch  until  the  last  light  winks  out/' 

So  they  trotted  to  a  point  where 
they  could  see  Farmer  Brown's 
house,  and  there  they  sat  down  to 
watch.  It  seemed  to  Reddy  that 
those  lights  never  would  wink  out. 
But  at  last  they  did. 

"  Come  on,  Granny  ! "  he  cried, 
jumping  to  his  feet. 

"Not  yet,  Reddy.  Not  yet/' 
replied  Granny.  "  We  've  got  to 
give  folks  time  to  get  sound  asleep. 
If  we  should  get  into  that  hen- 
house, those  hens  might  make  a 
racket,  and  if  anything  like  that  is 
going  to  happen,  we  want  to  be 
sure  that  Farmer  Brown  and 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  are  asleep." 


164  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

This  was  sound  advice,  and 
Reddy  knew  it.  So  with  a  groan 
he  once  more  threw  himself  down 
on  the  snow  to  wait.  At  last 
Granny  arose,  stretched,  and  looked 
up  at  the  twinkling  stars.  "  Come 
on,"  said  she  and  led  the  way. 

Up  back  of  the  barn  and  around 
it  they  stole  like  two  shadows  and 
quite  as  noiselessly  as  shadows. 
They  heard  Bowser  the  Hound 
sighing  in  his  sleep  in  his  snug 
little  house,  and  grinned  at  each 
other.  Silently  they  stole  over  to 
the  henyard.  The  gate  was  open, 
just  as  Granny  had  told  Reddy  it 
would  be.  Across  the  henyard 
they  trotted  swiftly,  straight  to 
where  more  than  once  in  the  day- 
time they  had  seen  the  hens  come 


A  MIDNIGHT  VISIT  165 

out  of  the  house  through  a  little 
hole.  It  was  closed.  Reddy  had 
expected  it  would  be.  Still,  he 
was  dreadfully  disappointed.  He 
gave  it  merely  a  glance. 

"I  knew  it  wouldn't  be  any 
use/'  said  he  with  a  half  whine. 

But  Granny  paid  no  attention 
to  him.  She  went  close  to  the 
hole  and  pushed  gently  against  the 
little  door  that  closed  it.  It  did  n't 
move.  Then  she  noticed  that  at 
one  edge  there  was  a  tiny  crack. 
She  tried  to  push  her  nose  through, 
but  the  crack  was  too  narrow. 
Then  she  tried  a  paw.  A  claw 
caught  on  the  edge  of  the  door, 
and  it  moved  ever  so  little.  Then 

Granny  knew  that  the  little  door 

«/ 

was  n't  fastened.    Granny  stretched 


166  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

herself  flat  on  the  ground  and 
went  to  work,  first  with  one  paw, 
then  with  the  other.  By  and  by 
she  caught  her  claws  in  it  just 
right  again,  and  it  moved  a  wee 
bit  more.  No,  most  certainly  that 
door  wasn't  fastened,  and  that 
crack  was  a  little  wider. 

"What  are  you  wasting  your 
time  there  for  ?  "  demanded  Reddy 
crossly.  "  We  'd  better  be  off  hunt- 
ing if  we  would  have  anything  to 
eat  this  night." 

Granny  said    nothing    but  kept 

on  working;.      She  had  discovered 

o 

that  this  was  a  sliding  door.  Pres- 
ently the  crack  was  wide  enough 
for  her  to  get  her  nose  in.  Then 
she  pushed  and  twisted  her  head 
this  way  and  that.  The  little  door 


A  MIDNIGHT  VISIT  167 

slowly  slid  back,  and  when  Reddy 
turned  to  speak  to  her  again,  for 
he  had  had  his  back  to  her,  she 
was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  Reddy 
just  gaped  and  gaped  foolishly. 
There  was  no  Granny  Fox,  but 
there  was  a  black  hole  where  she 
had  been  working,  and  from  it 
came  the  most  delicious  smell, — 
the  smell  of  fat  hens  !  It  seemed 
to  Reddy  that  his  stomach  fairly 
flopped  over  with  longing.  He 
rubbed  his  eyes  to  be  sure  that  he 
was  awake.  Then  in  a  twinkling 
he  was  inside  that  hole  himself. 

"Sh-h-h,   be    still!"    whispered 
Old  Granny  Fox. 


CHAPTER   XXV 

A  DINNER  FOR  TWO 

Dark  deeds  are  done  in  the  stilly  night, 
And  who  shall  say  if  they  're  wrong  or  right  ? 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

IT  all  depends  on  how  you  look 
at  things.  Of  course,  Granny  and 
Reddy  Fox  had  no  business  to  be 
in  Farmer  Brown's  henhouse  in  the 
middle  of  the  night,  or  at  any  other 
time,  for  that  matter.  That  is, 
they  had  no  business  to  be  there, 
as  Farmer  Brown  would  look  at 
the  matter.  He  would  have  called 
them  two  red  thieves.  Perhaps 
that  is  just  what  they  were.  But 
looking  at  the  matter  as  they  did, 


A  DINNER  FOR  TWO  169 

I  am  not  so  sure  about  it.  To 
Granny  and  Reddy  Fox  those  hens 
were  simply  big,  rather  stupid  birds, 
splendid  eating  if  they  could  be 
caught,  and  bound  to  be  eaten  by 
somebody.  The  fact  that  they 
were  in  Farmer  Brown's  henhouse 
didn't  make  them  his  any  more 
than  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Grouse  was 
in  a  part  of  the  Green  Forest  owned 
by  Farmer  Brown  made  her  his. 

You  see,  among  the  little  meadow 
and  forest  people  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  property  rights,  excepting 
in  the  matter  of  storehouses,  and 
because  these  hens  were  alive,  it 
did  n't  occur  to  Granny  and  Reddy 
that  the  henhouse  was  a  sort  of 
storehouse.  It  would  have  made 
no  difference  if  it  had.  Among  the 


170  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

little  people  it  is  considered  quite 
right  to  help  yourself  from  another's 
storehouse  if  you  are  smart  enough 
to  find  it  and  really  need  the  food. 

Besides,  Reddy  and  Granny  knew 
that  Farmer  Brown  and  his  boy 
would  eat  some  of  those  hens  them- 
selves, and  they  did  n't  begin  to 
need  them  as  Reddy  and  Granny 
did.  So  as  they  looked  at  the 
matter,  there  was  nothing  wrong 
in  being  in  that  henhouse  in  the 
middle  of  the  night.  They  were 
there  simply  because  they  needed 
food  very,  very  much,  and  food  was 
there. 

They  stared  up  at  the  roosts 
where  the  biddies  were  huddled 
together,  fast  asleep.  They  were 
too  high  up  to  be  reached  from  the 


A  DINNER  FOR  TWO  171 

floor  even  when  Reddy  and  Granny 
stood  on  their  hind  legs  and 
stretched  as  far  as  they  could. 

"  We  've  got  to  wake  them  up 
and  scare  them  so  that  some  of  the 
silly  things  will  fly  down  where  we 
can  catch  them/'  said  Reddy,  lick- 
ing his  lips  hungrily. 

"  That  won't  do  at  all !  "  snapped 
Granny.  "  They  would  make  a 
great  racket  and  waken  Bowser  the 
Hound,  and  he  would  waken  his 
master,  and  that  is  just  what  we 
must  n't  do  if  we  hope  to  ever  get 
in  here  again.  I  thought  you  had 
more  sense,  Reddy." 

Reddy  looked  a  little  shame- 
faced. "  Well,  if  we  don't  do  that, 
how  are  we  going  to  get  them? 
We  can't  fly/'  he  grumbled. 


172  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

"  You  stay  right  here  where  you 
are,"  snapped  Granny,  "and  take 
care  that  you  don't  make  a  sound." 

Then  Granny  jumped  lightly  to 
a  little  shelf  that  ran  along  in  front 
of  the  nesting  boxes.  From  this 
she  could  reach  the  lower  roost  on 
which  four  fat  hens  were  asleep. 
Very  gently  she  pushed  her  head 
in  between  two  of  these  and  crowded 
them  apart.  Sleepily  they  pro- 
tested and  moved  along  a  little. 
Granny  continued  to  crowd  them. 
At  last  one  of  them  stretched  out 
her  head  to  see  who  wTas  crowding 
so.  Like  a  flash  Granny  seized 
that  head,  and  biddy  never  knew 
what  had  wakened  her,  nor  did 
she  have  a  chance  to  waken  the 
others. 


THEY  STARED  UP  AT  THE  ROOSTS  WHERE  THE  BID- 
DIES     WERE      HUDDLED      TOGETHER,       FAST      ASLEEP. 

Page  170. 


A  DINNER  FOR  TWO  173 

Dropping  this  hen  at  Reddy 's 
feet,  Granny  crowded  another  until 
she  did  the  same  thing,  and  just 
the  same  thing  happened  once  more. 
Then  Granny  jumped  lightly  down, 
picked  up  one  of  the  hens  by  the 
neck,  slung  the  body  over  her 
shoulder,  and  told  Reddy  to  do  the 
same  with  the  other  and  start  for 
home. 

"  Are  n't  you  going  to  get  any 
more  while  we  have  the  chance  ?  " 
grumbled  Reddy. 

"Enough  is  enough/'  retorted 
Granny.  "  We  Ve  got  a  dinner  for 
two,  and  so  far  no  one  is  any  the 
wiser.  Perhaps  these  two  won't  be 
missed,  and  we  11  have  a  chance  to 
get  some  more  another  night.  Now 


come  on." 


174  OLD   GRANNY  FOX 

This  was  plain  common  sense, 
and  Reddy  knew  it,  so  without  an- 
other word  he  followed  old  Granny 
Fox  out  by  the  way  they  had  entered, 
and  then  home  to  the  best  dinner 
he  had  had  for  a  long  long  time. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

FARMER   BROWN'S   BOY   SETS   A   TRAP 

The  trouble  is  that  troubles  are, 

More  frequently  than  not, 
Brought  on  by  naught  but  carelessness  ; 

By  some  one  who  forgot. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 


Fox  had  hoped  that 
those  two  hens  she  and  Reddy  had 
stolen  from  Farmer  Brown's  hen- 
house would  not  be  missed,  but 
they  were.  They  were  missed  the 
very  first  thing  the  next  morning 
when  Farmer  Brown's  boy  went  to 
feed  the  biddies.  He  discovered 
right  away  that  the  little  sliding 
door  which  should  have  closed  the 


176  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

opening  through  which  the  hens 
went  in  and  out  of  the  house  was 
open,  and  then  he  remembered 
that  he  had  left  the  henyard  gate 
open  the  night  before.  Carefully 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  examined  the 
hole  with  the  sliding  door. 

"  Ha  ! '  said  he  presently,  and 
held  up  two  red  hairs  which  he 
had  found  on  the  edge  of  the  door. 
"  Ha !  I  thought  as  much.  I  was 
careless  last  night  and  didn't 
fasten  this  door,  and  I  left  the 
gate  open.  Reddy  Fox  has  been 
here,  and  now  I  know  what  has 
become  of  those  two  hens.  I  sup- 
pose it  serves  me  right  for  my 
carelessness,  and  I  suppose  if  the 
truth  were  known,  those  hens  were 
of  more  real  good  to  him  than 


BROWN'S  BOY  SETS  A  TRAP    177 

they  ever  could  have  been  to  me, 
because  the  poor  fellow  must  be 
having  pretty  hard  work  to  get  a 
living  these  hard  winter  days. 
Still,  I  can't  have  him  stealing  any 
more.  That  would  never  do  at 
all.  If  I  shut  them  up  every 
night  and  am  not  careless,  he 
can't  get  them.  But  accidents 
will  happen,  and  I  might  do  just 
as  I  did  last  night  —  think  I  had 
locked  up  when  I  hadn't.  I 
don't  like  to  set  a  trap  for  Reddy, 
but  I  must  teach  the  rascal  a  les- 
son. If  I  don't,  he  will  get  so 
bold  that  those  chickens  won't  be 
safe  even  in  broad  daylight." 

Now  at  just  that  very  time  over 
in  their  home,  Granny  and  Reddy 
Fox  were  talking  over  plans  for 


178  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

the  future,  and  shrewd  old  Granny 
was  pointing  out  to  Reddy  how 
necessary  it  was  that  they  should 
keep  away  from  that  henyard  for 
some  time.  We've  had  a  good 
dinner,  a  splendid  dinner,  and  if 
we  are  smart  enough  we  may  be 
able  to  get  more  good  dinners 
where  this  one  came  from/'  said 
she.  "But  we  certainly  won't  if 
we  are  too  greedy." 

"But  I  don't  believe  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  has  missed  those  two 
chickens,  and  I  don't  see  any  rea- 
son at  all  why  we  shouldn't  go 
back  there  to-night  and  get  two 
more  if  he  is  stupid  enough  to 
leave  that  gate  and  little  door 
open,"  whined  Reddy. 

"  Maybe  he  has  n't  missed  those 


BROWN'S  BOY  SETS  A  TRAP    179 

two,  but  if  we  should  take  two 
more  lie  certainly  would  miss 
them,  and  he  would  guess  what 
had  become  of  them,  and  that 
might  get  us  into  no  end  of 
trouble/'  snapped  Granny.  "We 
are  not  starving  now,  and  the  best 
thing  for  us  to  do  is  to  keep  away 
from  that  henhouse  until  we  can't 
get  anything  to  eat  anywhere  else. 
Now  you  mind  what  I  tell  you, 
Reddy,  and  don't  you  dare  go  near 
there." 

Reddy  promised,  and  so  it  came 
about  that  Farmer  Brown's  boy 
hunted  up  a  trap  all  for  nothing 
so  far  as  Reddy  and  Granny  were 
concerned.  Very  carefully  he 
bound  strips  of  cloth  around  the 
Jaws  of  the  trap,  for  he  could  n't 


180  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

bear  to  think  of  those  cruel  jaws 
cutting  into  the  leg  of  Reddy, 
should  he  happen  to  get  caught. 
You  see,  Farmer  Brown's  boy 
didn't  intend  to  kill  Reddy  if  he 
should  catch  him,  but  to  make  him 
a  prisoner  for  a  while  and  so  keep 
him  out  of  mischief.  That  night 
he  hid  the  trap  very  cunningly 
just  inside  the  henhouse  where 
any  one  creeping  through  that 
little  hole  made  for  the  hens  to  go 
in  and  out  would  be  sure  to  step 
in  it.  Then  he  purposely  left  the 
little  sliding  door  open  part  way 
as  if  it  had  been  forgotten,  and  he 
also  left  the  henyard  gate  open 
just  as  he  had  done  the  night 
before. 

"  There    now,    Master    Reddy/' 


BROWN'S  BOY  SETS  A  TRAP    181 

said  he,  talking  to  himself,  "I 
rather  think  that  you  are  going  to 
get  into  trouble  before  morning." 

And  doubtless  Reddy  would 
have  done  just  that  thing  but  for 
the  wisdom  of  sly  old  Granny. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

PRICKLY  PORKY  TAKES  A  SUN  BATH 

Danger  comes  when  least  expected ; 
'T  is  often  near  when  not  expected. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

THE  long  hard  winter  had 
passed,  and  Spring  had  come. 
Prickly  Porky  the  Porcupine  came 
down  from  a  tall  poplar-tree  and 
slowly  stretched  himself.  He  was 
tired  of  eating.  He  was  tired  of 
swinging  in  the  tree-top. 

"  I  believe  I  '11  have  a  sun-bath/' 
said  Prickly  Porky,  and  lazily 
walked  toward  the  edge  of  the 
Green  Forest  in  search  of  a  place 


A  SUN  BATH  183 

where  the  sun  lay  warm  and 
bright. 

Now  Prickly  Porky's  stomach 
was  very,  very  full.  He  was  fat 
and  naturally  lazy,  so  when  he 
came  to  the  doorstep  of  an  old 
house  just  on  the  edge  of  the  Green 
Forest  he  sat  down  to  rest.  It 
was  sunny  and  warm  there,  and  the 
longer  he  sat  the  less  like  moving  he 
felt.  He  looked  about  him  with  his 
dull  eyes  and  grunted  to  himself. 

"It's  a  deserted  house.  No- 
body lives  here,  and  I  guess  no- 
body ?11  care  if  I  take  a  nap  right 
here  on  the  doorstep,"  said  Prickly 
Porky  to  himself.  "And  I  don't 
care  if  they  do,"  he  added,  for 
Prickly  Porky  the  Porcupine  was 
afraid  of  nobody  and  nothing. 


184  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

So  Prickly  Porky  made  himself 
as  comfortable  as  possible,  yawned 
once  or  twice,  tried  to  wink  at  jolly, 
round,  red  Mr.  Sun,  who  was  wink- 
ing and  smiling  down  at  him,  and 
then  fell  fast  asleep  right  on  the 
doorstep  of  the  old  house. 

Now  the  old  house  had  been  de- 
serted. No  one  had  lived  in  it  for 
a  long,  long  time,  a  very  long  time 
indeed.  But  it  happened  that,  the 
night  before,  old  Granny  Fox  and 
Reddy  Fox  had  had  to  move  out  of 
their  nice  home  on  the  edge  of  the 
Green  Meadows  because  Farmer 
Brown's  boy  had  found  it.  Reddy 
was  very  stiff  and  sore,  for  he  had 
been  shot  by  a  hunter.  He  was  so 
sore  he  could  hardly  walk,  and 
could  not  go  very  far.  So  old 


A  SUN  BATH  185 

Granny  Fox  had  led  him  to  the  old 
deserted  house  and  put  him  to  bed 
in  that. 

"No  one  will  think  of  looking 
for  us  here,  for  every  one  knows 
that  no  one  lives  here/'  said  old 
Granny  Fox,  as  she  made  Reddy  as 
comfortable  as  possible. 

As  soon  as  it  was  daylight, 
Granny  Fox  slipped  out  to  watch 
for  Farmer  Brown's  boy,  for  she 
felt  sure  that  he  would  come  back 
to  the  house  they  had  left,  and  sure 
enough  he  did.  He  brought  a 
spade  and  dug  the  house  open,  and 
all  the  time  old  Granny  Fox  was 
watching  him  from  behind  a  fence 
corner  and  laughing  to  think  thai 
she  had  been  smart  enough  to  move 
in  the  night. 


186  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

But  Reddy  Fox  didn't  know 
anything  about  this.  He  was  so 
tired  that  he  slept  and  slept  and 
slept.  It  was  the  middle  of  the 
morning  when  finally  he  awoke. 
He  yawned  and  stretched,  and  when 
he  stretched  he  groaned  because  he 
was  so  stiff  and  sore.  Then  he 
hobbled  up  toward  the  doorway  to 
see  if  old  Granny  Fox  had  left  any 
breakfast  outside  for  him. 

It  was  dark,  very  dark.  Reddy 
was  puzzled.  Could  it  be  that  he 
had  gotten  up  before  daylight  — 
that  he  had  n't  slept  as  long  as  he 
thought?  Perhaps  he  had  slept 
the  whole  day  through,  and  it  was 
night  again.  My,  how  hungry  he 
was! 

"I  hope  Granny  has  caught  a 


A  SUN  BATH  187 

fine,  fat  chicken  for  me,"  thought 
Reddy,  and  his  mouth  watered. 

Just  then  he  ran  bump  into  some- 
thing. "  Wow  ! "  screamed  Reddy 
Fox,  and  clapped  both  hands  to  his 
nose.  Something  was  sticking  into 
it.  It  was  one  of  the  sharp  little 
spears  that  Prickly  Porky  hides  in 
his  coat.  Reddy  Fox  knew  then 
why  the  old  house  was  so  dark. 
Prickly  Porky  was  blocking  up  the 
doorway. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

PRICKLY  PORKY  ENJOYS  HIMSELF 

A  boasting  tongue,  as  sure  as  fate, 
Will  trip  its  owner  soon  or  late. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

PRICKLY  PORKY  the  Porcupine 
was  enjoying  himself.  There  was 
no  doubt  about  that.  He  was 
stretched  across  the  doorway  of 
that  old  house,  the  very  house  in 
which  old  Granny  Fox  had  been 
born.  When  he  had  lain  down  on 
the  doorstep  for  a  nap  and  sun-bath, 
he  had  thought  that  the  old  house 
was  still  deserted.  Then  he  had 
fallen  asleep,  only  to  be  wakened 


PORKY  ENJOYS  HIMSELF      189 

by  Reddy  Fox,  who  had  been  asleep 
in  the  old  house  and  who  could  n't 
get  out  because  Prickly  Porky  was 
in  the  way. 

Now  Prickly  Porky  does  not  love 
Reddy  Fox,  and  the  more  Reddy 
begged  and  scolded  and  called  him 
names,  the  more  Prickly  Porky 
chuckled.  It  was  such  a  good  joke 
to  think  that  he  had  trapped  Reddy 
Fox,  and  he  made  up  his  mind  that 
he  would  keep  Reddy  in  there  a 
long  time  just  to  tease  him  and 
make  him  uncomfortable.  You 
see  Prickly  Porky  remembered  how 
often  Reddy  Fox  played  mean 
tricks  on  little  meadow  and  forest 
folks  who  are  smaller  and  weaker 
than  himself. 

"It  will  do  him  good.     It  cer- 


190  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

tainly  will  do  him  good,"  said 
Prickly  Porky,  and  rattled  the 
thousand  little  spears  hidden  in  his 
long  coat,  for  he  knew  that  the 
very  sound  of  them  would  make 
Reddy  Fox  shiver  with  fright. 

Suddenly  Prickly  Porky  pricked 
up  his  funny  little  short  ears.  He 
heard  the  deep  voice  of  Bowser 
the  Hound,  and  it  was  coming 
nearer  and  nearer.  Prickly  Porky 
chuckled  again. 

"I  guess  Mr.  Bowser  is  going 
to  have  a  surprise ;  I  certainly 
think  he  is/'  said  Prickly  Porky  as 
he  made  all  the  thousand  little 
spears  stand  out  from  his  long  coat 
till  he  looked  like  a  funny  great 
chestnut  burr. 

Bowser  the  Hound  did  have  a 


PORKY  ENJOYS  HIMSELF      191 

surprise.  He  was  hunting  Reddy 
Fox,  and  he  almost  ran  into 
Prickly  Porky  before  he  saw  him. 
The  very  sight  of  those  thousand 
little  spears  sent  little  cold  chills 
chasing  each  other  down  Bowser's 
backbone  clear  to  the  tip  of  his 
tail,  for  he  remembered  how  he 
had  gotten  some  of  them  in  his  lips 
and  mouth  once  upon  a  time,  and 
how  it  had  hurt  to  have  them 
pulled  out.  Ever  since  then  he 
had  had  the  greatest  respect  for 
Prickly  Porky. 

"  Wow  ! '  yelped  Bowser  the 
Hound,  stopping  short.  "  I  beg 
your  pardon,  Prickly  Porky,  I  beg 
your  pardon,  I  did  n't  know  you 
were  taking  a  nap  here." 

All  the  time  Bowser  the  Hound 


192  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

was  backing  away  as  fast  as  he 
could.  Then  he  turned  around, 
put  his  tail  between  his  legs  and 
actually  ran  away. 

Slowly  Prickly  Porky  unrolled, 
and  his  little  eyes  twinkled  as  he 
watched  Bowser  the  Hound  run 
away. 

"  Bowser 's  very  big  and  strong ; 

His  voice  is  deep ;  his  legs  are  long ; 
His  bark  scares  some  almost  to  death. 

But  as  for  me  he  wastes  his  breath ; 
I  just  roll  up  and  shake  my  spears 

And  Bowser  is  the  one  who  fears." 

So  said  Prickly  Porky,  and 
laughed  aloud.  Just  then  he 
heard  a  light  footstep  and  turned 
to  see  who  was  coming.  It  was 
old  Granny  Fox.  She  had  seen 
Bowser  run  away,  and  now  she  was 


PORKY  ENJOYS  HIMSELF       193 

anxious  to  find  out  if  Reddy  Foa 
were  safe. 

"  Good  morning/'  said  Granny 
Fox,  taking  care  not  to  come  too 
near. 

"  Good  morning/'  replied  Prickly 
Porky,  hiding  a  smile. 

"  I  'm  very  tired  and  would  like 
to  go  inside  my  house ;  had  you 
just  as  soon  move  ?  *  asked  Granny 
Fox. 

"  Oh ! "  exclaimed  Prickly  Porky, 
"  is  this  your  house  ?  I  thought 
you  lived  over  on  the  Green 
Meadows/' 

"  I  did,  but  I  Ve  moved.  Please 
let  me  in/'  replied  Granny  Fox. 

"  Certainly,  certainly.  Don't 
mind  me,  Granny  Fox.  Step  right 
over  me/'  said  Prickly  Porky,  and 


194  OLD   GRANNY  FOX 

smiled  once  more,  and  at  the  same 
time  rattled  his  little  spears. 

Instead  of   stepping    over    him, 
Granny  Fox  backed  away. 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

THE  NEW  HOME  IN  THE  OLD  PASTURE 

Who  keeps  a  watch  upon  his  toes 
Need  never  fear  he  '11  bump  his  nose. 

Old  Granny  Fox. 

Now  there  is  nothing  like  being 
shut  in  alone  in  the  dark  to  make 
one  think.  A  voice  inside  of 
Reddy  began  to  whisper  to  him. 
"If  you  hadn't  tried  to  be  smart 
and  show  off  you  wouldn't  have 
brought  all  this  trouble  on  your- 
self and  Old  Granny  Fox/'  said 
the  voice. 

"I  know  it,"  replied  Reddy 
right  out  loud,  forgetting  that  it 
was  only  a  small  voice  inside  of  him. 


196  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

"  What  do  you  know  ? '  asked 
Prickly  Porky.  He  was  still  keep- 
ing Reddy  in  and  Granny  out  and 
he  had  overheard  what  Reddy  said. 

"  It  is  none  of  your  business  !  " 
snapped  Reddy. 

Reddy  could  hear  Prickly  Porky 
chuckle.  Then  Prickly  Porky  re- 
peated as  if  to  himself  in  a  queer 
cracked  voice  the  following : 

"Rudeness  never,  never  pays, 
Nor  is  there  gain  in  saucy  ways. 
It 's  always  best  to  be  polite 
And  ne'er  give  way  to  ugly  spite. 
If  that 's  the  way  you  feel  inside 
You  'd  better  all  such  feelings  hide ; 
For  lie  must  smile  who  hopes  to  win, 
And  he  who  loses  best  will  grin." 

Reddy  pretended  that  he  had  n't 
heard.  Prickly  Porky  continued 
to  chuckle  for  a  while  and  finally 


THE  NEW  HOME  19? 

Reddy  fell  asleep.  When  lie 
awoke  it  was  to  find  that  Prickly 
Porky  had  left  and  old  Granny  Fox 
had  brought  him  something  to  eat. 
Just  as  soon  as  Reddy  Fox  was 
able  to  travel  he  and  Granny  had 
moved  to  the  Old  Pasture.  The 
Old  Pasture  is  very  different  from 
the  Green  Meadows  or  the  Green 
Forest.  Yes,  indeed,  it  is  very, 
very  different.  Reddy  Fox  thought 
so.  And  Reddy  did  n't  like  the 
change,  —  not  a  bit.  All  about 
were  great  rocks,  and  around  and 
over  them  grew  bushes  and  young 
trees  and  bull-briars  with  long 
ugly  thorns,  and  blackberry  and 
raspberry  canes  that  seemed  to 
have  a  million  little  hooked  hands, 
reaching  to  catch  in  and  tear  his 


198  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

red  coat  and  to  scratch  his  face 
and  hands.  There  were  little 
open  places  where  wild-eyed  young 
cattle  fed  on  the  short  grass.  They 
had  made  many  little  paths  all 
crisscross  among  the  bushes,  and 
when  you  tried  to  follow  one  of 
these  paths  you  never  could  tell 
where  you  were  coming  out. 

No,  Reddy  Fox  did  not  like  the 
Old  Pasture  at  all.  There  was  no 
long,  soft  green  grass  to  lie  down 
in.  And  it  was  lonesome  up  there. 
He  missed  the  little  people  of  the 
Green  Meadows  and  the  Green 
Forest.  There  was  no  one  to 
bully  and  tease.  And  it  was  such 
a  long,  long  way  from  Farmer 
Brown's  henyard  that  old  Granny 
Fox  would  n't  even  try  to  bring 


THE  NEW  HOME  199 

him  a  fat  hen.  At  least,  that 's 
what  she  told  Reddy. 

The  truth  is,  wise  old  Granny 
Fox  knew  that  the  very  best  thing 
she  could  do  was  to  stay  away 
from  Farmer  Brown's  for  a  long 
time.  She  knew  that  Reddy 
could  n't  go  down  there,  because 
he  was  still  too  lame  and  sore  to 
travel  such  a  long  way,  and  she 
hoped  that  by  the  time  Reddy  was 
well  enough  to  go,  he  would  have 
learned  better  than  to  do  such  a 
foolish  thing  as  to  try  to  show  off 
by  stealing  a  chicken  in  broad  day- 
light, as  he  had  when  he  brought 
all  this  trouble  on  them. 

Down  on  the  Green  Meadows, 
the  home  of  Granny  and  Reddy 
Fox  had  been  on  a  little  knoll* 


200  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

which  you  know  is  a  little  low 
hill,  right  where  they  could  sit  on 
their  doorstep  and  look  all  over 
the  Green  Meadows.  It  had  been 
very,  very  beautiful  down  there. 
They  had  made  lovely  little  paths 
through  the  tall  green  meadow 
grass,  and  the  buttercups  and 
daisies  had  grown  close  up  to  their 
very  doorstep.  But  up  here  in 
the  Old  Pasture  Granny  Fox  had 
chosen  the  thickest  clump  of  bushes 
and  young  trees  she  could  find, 
and  in  the  middle  was  a  great  pile 
of  rocks.  'Way  in  among  these 
rocks  Granny  Fox  had  dug  their 
new  house.  It  was  right  down 
under  the  rocks.  Even  in  the 
middle  of  the  day  jolly,  round,  red 
Mr.  Sun  could  hardly  find  it  with 


THE  NEW  HOME  201 

a  few  of  his  long,  bright  beams. 
All  the  rest  of  the  time  it  waa 
dark  and  gloomy  there. 

No,  Reddy  Fox  didn't  like  his 
new  home  at  all,  but  when  he  said 
so  old  Granny  Fox  boxed  his  ears, 

"  It 's  your  own  fault  that  we  've 
got  to  live  here  now/'  said  she. 
"  It 's  the  only  place  where  we  are 
safe.  Farmer  Brown's  boy  never 
will  find  this  home,  and  even  if  he 
did  he  could  n't  dig  into  it  as  he 
did  into  our  old  home  on  the  Green 
Meadows.  Here  we  are,  and  here 
we've  got  to  stay,  all  because  a 
foolish  little  Fox  thought  himself 
smarter  than  anybody  else  and 
tried  to  show  off." 

Reddy  hung  his  head.  "  I  don't 
care ! '  he  said,  which  was  very, 


202  OLD  GRANNY  FOX 

very  foolish,  because,  you  know,  he 
did  care  a  very  great  deal. 

And  here  we  will  leave  wise  Old 
Granny  Fox  and  Reddy,  safe,  even 
if  they  do  not  like  their  new  home. 
You  see,  Lightfoot  the  Deer  is 
getting  jealous.  He  thinks  there 
should  be  some  books  about  the 
people  of  the  Green  Forest,  and 
that  the  first  one  should  be  about 
him.  And  because  we  all  love 
Lightfoot  the  Deer,  the  very  next 
book  is  to  bear  his  name. 


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